Lost: Samantha and the Darkness
by A Rhea King
Summary: Samantha wakes up stranded with the rest of the survivors. With her newfound ability, she befriend the survivor's worst nightmare. OC story.
1. Chapter 1

**Samantha and the Darkness  
A. Rhea King**

**

* * *

Chapter 1**

Maybe it was the incessant chorus of birds singing that woke her, or the lack of the airplane noises, or the multitude of voice discussing where the best fruit to eat was. That tugged at her consciousness until she finally opened her eyes and focused on the trees rising up over her. Then she became aware of her aching head and how it felt like a brick of cement was attached to her shoulders. Samantha slowly sat up. She ached in places she'd forgotten about years ago. She winced as she brought her arm around, making dull pain run up it. She stared at the lush tropic plant life surrounding her. Without warning, pain stabbed into her head and she whimpered, pressing the heels of her hands against her forehead. A strange sensation flowed through her. The pain flared and thousands of searing pins stabbed into her spine. At the same time she felt like a warm blanket was being laid on her. It occurred to her that maybe her back was broken and she just made it worse by sitting up. As the sensations had come, her consciousness left her.

#

Before her family was murdered, she'd grown up on a farm handed down for two generations. After the fire had killed her family and orphaned her, she continued moving west until she ended up in Los Angeles, but she never forgot the placid life and silence of the farm. The silence she now heard reminded her of the farm. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night on cold winter days and listening to silence so intense that her imagination could make anything happen in it.

Something chittered to her left. Something cold touched her open wrist. She slowly opened her eyes and terror froze her scream in her mind. A mass of blackness hovered over her. It had no legs, no body, no form that she could identify. It could only be described as a black cloud or smoke, and in the bright midday sunlight, it was a horrifying sight to behold.

The coldness on her wrist returned as a piece of the blackness brushed it. She wanted to recoil from the thing, but she was paralyzed with fear. All of a sudden a loud trumpeting sound came from the mass and it seemed to rear up, if that was even possible. It flew over her, disappearing in the trees. She stared where it had gone, frightened and expecting it to return. With sudden determination she lunged up and ran. She was used to running. She ran for miles every morning, but not over uneven ground or through dense foliage. She didn't know where she was going, but she couldn't lie there to see if that thing was coming back for her.

"Just had to go to Australia, didn't I?" she muttered to herself.

The question reminded her why she had gone in the first place, and it made her smile a little. She had gone for a good reason; an honorable and unselfish one that would have made her parents proud. She went because she secretly believed she had a powerful and important was a talent that very few people had.

#

The coastal towns in northwestern Australia had been battered by a hurricane not one building of this small community that had been left untouched. From the back of a bouncing military truck, Samantha stared at the destruction. She looked away, unmoved, really. She'd worked with the Red Cross in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita so what she saw was nothing new and nothing she had time to mourn about. Eight years ago she'd learned about an organization that worked with local humane societies to rescue pets following natural disasters. Volunteering meant spending months away from home saving the lives of half starved, terrified animals. She stopped blaming the owners for leaving the creatures behind after her first rescue in a city hit by a typhoon. The owners that left and stayed alive would often come back searching for their pets. Those reunions often moved her. Many of the owners that had stayed died and their pets were orphaned.

The truck stopped and she and the other volunteers climbed out. Solemnly and without a word, their group leader handed out noose leashes, two gallons of water, and shoulder bags with wet food and plastic dishes.

"Return back to this position in an hour," he ordered. "Keep in radio contact. Do not enter buildings marked with red Xs under any circumstances."

The group dispersed, each heading in opposite directions to find the abandoned and lost.

#

Samantha stopped short, listening. She heard a strange whining, like a motor trying to start. She turned toward it, walking more cautiously. Suddenly there was an explosion and she paused for a minute when smoke rose into the sky ahead. She came out on a beach littered with belongings, luggage, dead, wounded, and uninjured, confused people. She heard hundreds of voices, hundreds of indistinct conversations. She put a hand to her temple, forcing back her rising fear and anxiety. But they were strong threats as she stared at the scraps of what had been the plane taking her home. Her gaze drifted out to the endless expanse of ocean. Where the hell was she?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Samantha heard someone walking up behind her but didn't look away from the ocean. The lapping water was lulling and drowned out the thousands of voices that were concerned with food and eating, and occasionally some rudimentary social discussions like whom was a mate of whom and who to follow. After three days, she realized only she heard the voices. It was convincing evidence that she was going insane. She wondered how long it would be before the other survivors noticed she was crazy.

But listening to the ocean helped. It focused her mind away from the noise, and lit by the fires around her, it was calming.

"Water?"

She slowly turned her head, staring at the legs in front of her. Her eyes drifted up to the face of the man standing over her holding out a bottle of water.

"What?" she asked. She couldn't comprehend the question for some reason. It made no more sense than the voices.

He knelt down, looking at her face, not her eyes. "That's a pretty good gash you have there." He met her eyes now. "Did you get it in the crash?"

She just stared at him. She didn't know what he was talking about.

"Do you feel okay?" he asked.

She didn't really understand the question. Was he asking her if she was thinking clearly? She wasn't. She looked at the sand.

"What's your name?"

She didn't answer. He reached out, lightly touching her arm. "Do you _know_ your name?"

"Samantha."

"Just Samantha?"

"Samantha McNally."

"I'm Jack."

She didn't respond. She looked back at the ocean.

"Samantha, I'm going to go get something to clean that wound. Don't move, okay?"

She slowly nodded. She had no intention of moving. He left her, walking away to do something she didn't really comprehend.

She looked down at the bottle of water he'd left behind. She picked it up, lifting it so the firelight refracted off the water and made the thin layer of tension on the top visible. She had extensively studied that strange and often forgotten part of water. It was less than a millimeter thick, but strong enough that water spiders could glide across it. If the surface was hit at the right speed and angle, the pressure it put on the human body was the same as taking swan dive off a two-story building onto concrete.

Her eyes closed half way and she envisioned making water on her computer. She could see her hands moving the pen on the digital tablet, watching the computer program obey her commands until she had fully colored a pond with an elegant gliding water spider moving across the surface and around each other like ballroom dancers. She'd have to design it when she got back. Maybe Disney or Pixar would use it in some new animation movie about bugs or spiders or even shrunken people.

That was her job, or it had been. She was one of those animators that made the Titanic look so real that it made James Cameron look brilliant. She didn't mind. Her pleasure was making the imaginary worlds look real, not in what it did for other people's careers.

Her head rose slowly when she heard the trumpeting of bodiless black cloud. What followed next was a thunderous crashing of trees. She turned her head, watching the rest of the survivors. They stood still or were rising to their feet, staring at the jungle that seemed to have come alive before their eyes.

She heard someone calling her name and begging her to come into the jungle. She scanned all the people and it didn't appear any of them were saying anything. She wanted to scream to the imaginary voice to shut up, but bit her tongue. She looked back at the ocean, covering her ears.

The noise stopped and the voice quit calling for her. Several minutes passed before both the real and imaginary conversations resumed. She looked back at the jungle where the movement had been. Was that thing really an animal? Had it been hurt when the plane crashed? She looked down at the sand, hoping it wasn't a hurt animal. Hurt animals were unpredictable – or so she'd been told. What really bothered her was the way a hurt animal looked at her. That broke her heart every time.

#

"Come here, honey. Come on, sweetheart," Samantha called.

The Rottweiler didn't move. Trembling and half starved, it stood in the rubble of its former home. It probably expected its humans to return at any moment. For all Samantha knew, the people were dead, but she couldn't explain that to the dog.

"Sam," someone called.

She looked back, watching another search member walk up. The Rottweiler started growling. Samantha moved out of the space she'd wedged her small body into. Her small, skinny frame was a blessing in these searches. She could climb into spots others couldn't and bring out pets they were unable to reach.

"Any luck?" he asked.

"Not yet. Give me five more minutes."

"You said that ten minutes ago."

"Just five more minutes. I'll get him out."

The man looked down the road. He could see the rest of the group waiting at the truck.

"I'll walk really slow," he told her and strolled toward the truck.

Samantha moved back into the opening and crouched down so she was eye to eye with the dog.

"Look, honey, you can't stay here. I know you think this is home, but your home is gone. I want to get you out, give you a good meal, and find your mom and dad, or whatever. I can't do that if you won't come out, baby. Please. Come out of there and let me take you somewhere safe and warm. Please?"

The dog didn't move. Samantha smiled and slid her hand in her hip pocket. She wrapped her fingers around an octagon and pulled it out.

"All right. If I have to resort to desperate measures, I will." She held up an oblong shaped dog treat. "This is fresh. Peanut butter, some dried meat, a little sugar, and flour. I made it just this morning for you. This one is on the house. But if you want another, you have to come out and get it."

Samantha sat the treat on the ground in front of the dog and moved to the edge of the opening, never taking her eyes off the animal. She watched it slowly inch forward and smell the treat, then gulp it down. She reached in her pocket and held out another.

"This one isn't free. You have to come out if you want it, honey."

Slowly, inch-by-inch, the dog crept toward her. She opened her palm to the dog, letting it sniff the treat. It grabbed it and stepped back. When she didn't follow it, the dog stepped forward again. She was gaining its trust by waiting patiently.

She pulled out another treat, stepping back two steps into the sunlight. She held her hand open and the dog crept out. It didn't retreat when it took this one. She slowly reached out and scratched its ear while it crunched the treat. The dog moved forward into her hand. She fished out one more treat and held it at her stomach. The dog moved close to her to get it. She laid her hand on its neck and it didn't move away. She slid a looped lead over its head, scratching its ears.

"I've been trying for five days to get that dog out of there," someone said.

Samantha turned. The group leader was leaning on what was left of the fence, smiling at her.

"You have a way with animals, Sam. I don't think that computer stuff you mentioned is the right career path for you."

She smiled, looking at the dog. She scratched its ear again.

"You think so, buddy?"

The dog licked her hand, with a little wag of its stub tail.

#

Samantha woke and her mind knew something was off, even if she couldn't comprehend it. The realization of what clicked suddenly; someone was standing behind her and blocking the sunlight. She rolled over, staring up at the rotund man watching her. He looked as disheveled as anyone else and held a paper and pen. She'd seen him a lot, but like everyone else, she avoided any conversation with him.

"Hi," he said.

"Uh… Hi."

"I'm Hurley."

She didn't answer. He crouched down, blinding her when he moved out of the sun to let it shine in her eyes. She rolled her head over, covering her eyes until the momentary blindness went away.

"What's your name?" he asked.

She looked up at him and caught her breath. She didn't hear the thousands of voices, just those of the people around her. She turned, looking around her. Was the insanity gone?

"Samantha," she answered.

"Where were you going?"

"Home."

"Where's that?"

She was confused about why he was asking all these questions. "Los Angeles. Why?"

He looked at the paper from his pocket and looked down the list. "What seat were you in?"

"Like I remember that. Why do you want to know?"

"I'm seeing who's alive so we can tell their families and stuff."

"Did you find a phone?"

"No. I mean when we're rescued."

"I can't believe you woke me up for this, _Hurley_."

"It's like in the middle of the day."

"It was like in the middle of the night when I finally got to sleep."

"Why?"

"Why do you care?"

He looked back at the sheet without answering. "Here you are. Seat—"

"I don't care! _If_ anyone's coming, it won't be for a very, very, _very_ long time."

"How do you know that?"

"Hello! We're on an uninhabited island. It's probably not even on a map!"

He looked at her for a long moment, then stood and started walking. She instantly felt guilty for being so rude.

"Hey!"

He stopped, looking back.

"I'm just… I'm cranky when I get woke up. Sorry."

He didn't move right away. He looked at his sheet. "Were you with anyone?"

"No. Just me."

"Thanks."

She nodded.

She sighed, looking up when she heard birds calling overhead. She watched a flock land in the trees nearby. Suddenly the voices returned. There weren't thousands this time, maybe a few dozen, but it dashed her hope that she wasn't losing her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She grabbed an empty bottle from the pile and dipped it into the water trough, filling it with water. She capped it and started toward the trees.

"Where ya going?" someone asked.

She turned. Hurley stood behind her holding an armful of green palm leaves.

"For a walk."

"Alone?"

"I'm a big girl."

"A polar bear's in there. You shouldn't go alone."

"A polar bear?"

"Yeah. Uhm, it attacked—"

"That's impossible, Hurley. We're on a tropical island."

"Well… People have seen it and there is one."

"Hurley… Hurley, did you even finish high school?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Then you should'a learned about evolution and all that. Polar bears didn't evolve to survive tropical climates, so I doubt whatever anyone saw was a polar bear."

"I dunno about that, but Jack said—"

She scowled at the mention of his name. His type annoyed her. Their very existence seemed to be to add drama where drama wasn't needed. They reminded her of the people that worked at her animation studio. She was overjoyed when she was given permission to telecommute and didn't have to deal with it. And then, suddenly, she found herself forced to deal with it on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Was fate really that cruel?

"Bye," Samantha told him, heading into the jungle.

"Hey! You should have someone go with you."

She didn't stop walking.

"If you'll give me a minute, I'll go with you. I'm up for a walk today!"

She didn't stop. She didn't want him going with her.

#

She came around a tree and stopped, staring at the yellow fixed-wing plane resting just off a cliff on the edges of branches. She walked around to where the branches touched the cliff edge and grabbed one.

She jumped when someone screeched, "Stay away!"

Samantha turned, finding she was still alone. A brightly colored bird flew from one tree to another near her. She pulled herself forward, grabbing the branch again.

"_STAY AWAY!_"

She turned quick, hoping to catch the person. All she found were trees and birds. But the quick movement threw her off balance and she fell forward. She landed on a branch and almost fell over the cliff. Further out the branches moved as birds flew out of the tree, causing the plane to rock, groan, and creak. She pulled herself back, staring at it. On second thought, maybe her imaginary voice was worth listening to. Samantha climbed to her feet, brushing the dirt off her hands and knees. She turned her back on the plane and headed back into the jungle.

Her mind went off wandering, so the roar of a bear didn't alert her right away and it was much closer when it finally did. She stopped, listening.

In unison, she heard someone scream, "Hungry!" as the bear roared again.

She turned, listening. She could hear the underbrush crashing as the bear came closer.

The bear roared and with it the person yelled, "Hot! Hungry!"

This wasn't the monster, was it? It sounded much different. So what was—

The question was answered when a polar bear crashed through a large fern. It stopped, the two staring at each other.

It roared and the voice screamed, "FOOD!"

She spun and ran, and the bear chased. Ahead she spotted a tall, gnarled tree, with large roots that gave her a springboard to the lowest branches. She jumped onto one and leapt, grabbing a slender branch. She had spent three years on her high school gymnastic team and even though she won state every year, it never made her friends on the team. Today that didn't matter. Today it only matter that she had won state for three years and her body moved with the ease and grace the sport had taught her. She swung higher into the tree and away from the polar bear. Halfway up she swung onto a thick branch and straddled it.

Far below the polar bear leaned on the tree on its front paws and roared loud enough to scare the birds.

"FOOD! HUNGRY! FOOD!" she heard the person scream as the bear continued roaring.

"STOP IT!" Samantha screamed down at the bear, and to the person. "I keep hearing voices talking about all the fruit that's around here! Go eat that. Become a fruitarian!"

The bear stopped roaring and stared at her. The person stopped yelling. The bear fell back to all fours and padded away.

With each low, pitiful moaning roar of the bear, the voice continued complaining, "Hot. Hungry." Soon both faded away.

She leaned back against the trunk; glad she'd escaped that with her life. A breeze blew down through the branches, carrying on it the scent of the ocean and cooling her flushed skin. She opened her eyes. Through the trees the ocean was just visible. She moved up, caught a branch, and worked her way into the top branches.

She stopped, staring out at the azure waters. On the edge of the visible horizon it was a dark blue, probably where the waters became deep as the shelf the island sat on dropped sharply.

With a faint smile, she told herself, "I love this island."

Her smile raced away as she realized she was being honest with herself. She did love this place. Not even the strangeness of it, or the terrifying things that had happened lately, could change that. She didn't miss technology or the city. She didn't miss co-workers who couldn't even remember her name. She missed her cat, but he was staying with the neighbor who loved cats and probably didn't realize she was even gone.

"I won't leave," Samantha told herself and the island. "I… I have nothing to go back to. I love it here. I'm never leaving."

Birds scattered. In the distance she heard the bear roar. Somewhere far off she heard the creature trumpet. It was as if all the creatures of the island were cheering to her promise. She laughed at her over active imagination, and then began climbing down the tree again. If she was going to make this her new home, she wanted to know all she could about it.

#

As she walked through the lush undergrowth she swung a stick idly back and forth, brushing the ferns out of her way. Samantha looked up as she came out of the trees, watching the sky. The chatter of hundreds of birds filled the air in a never-ending chorus. She stopped, idly swinging the stick. She jumped when pain stabbed her leg. She looked down, and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the black and white spider on her leg.

"EH!" she cried, batting it off her leg.

It landed on a fern and disappeared. She leaned over, looking at the two small red punctures in her skin. She stood and kept walking, glowering at the spot the spider had disappeared. She looked up and the world around her spun, forcing her to stop. She slowly put her hand to her head, trying to steady the twirling world around her. She could feel her heart in her chest and her breath grew shorter. She turned, heading back to the caves and the doctor. She stumbled at the edge of the clearing and grabbed a tree for support. Her knees buckled and she landed in the dirt, trying to keep herself balanced.

Her heart leapt into her throat when she heard the trumpeting of the creature. She looked over her shoulder, knowing she should get back on her feet and run — followed by the knowing that she couldn't. Samantha sank to the ground, trying to get a full breath in her lungs. Her thoughts slowed. Her eyes fixed on a white flower in front of her. She felt something cool brush her arm and something rub against her back. It felt like a soft fabric blowing against her skin. She stopped thinking, or seeing, or sensing anything as the spider's venom fully paralyzed her.

#

The rain pattered softly on the plants. Nearby it was running off something into a pool in a steady flow. Samantha blinked. Her mind was working very slowly as it tried to recognize the white object in front of her.

"Flower," she whispered. Or at least she meant to. She couldn't move her tongue or lips.

The night wore on as her senses slowly came back. Somewhere during it she began to comprehend that the rain wasn't falling on her, but around her. Did she land under a large plant? She was finally able to close her eyes and drifted in and out of sleep. Sometime during the night she felt her warm breath as it moved over her lips and made them tingle.

She heard someone ask if she was awake followed by a strange chittering noise, but she couldn't move her tongue or vocal chords to answer yet. Finally the falling rain lulled her into a deep sleep. When she opened her eyes again the sun had risen over the possessed island. She stared at the white flower, able to comprehend what it was. She could feel her fingers and move them a little, but she still couldn't answer the person when they asked how she was. She dozed and when she woke, she could swallow and wet her lips. She rolled onto her back and a scream started to rise only to freeze in her throat.

The black cloud creature hovered over her like an umbrella. Samantha felt paralyzed all over again and even though her mind was telling her to run, she couldn't find the strength to obey. She heard someone ask if she was okay and looked away, trying to find the person. She looked up when the cloud moved. It swirled over her like it was turning in its sleep.

Suddenly she rolled away and sprang to her feet, only to find the venom hadn't worn off completely and her legs didn't want to cooperate. She stumbled before falling. Something cold touched her arm and she jerked her head around. The cloud was near her arm, inches from touching it. It moved slowly past her arm around in front of her like a giant snake. Someone asked if she was okay again. She looked for the speaker.

"Where are you?" Samantha asked.

The cloud hovered before her. Was it looking at her? Did it even have eyes? The person asked again. She looked for the person. A tendril of the cloud reached out next to her face. She moved her head, slowly turning her eyes back to the rest of it. The voice asked the question again.

Samantha forgot to breath and her stomach tightened.

"You… You're asking how I am?"

_It was_, it answered.

"You can talk?"

_No. In her state, she could understand it._

Samantha stared at the cloud, realizing the chittering noise she'd been hearing was coming from the creature. Now, though, it purred like an electric heater. This was its communication?

_Yes it told her._

"How…"

_It asked if she'd heard what the birds were telling her? They went on and on about the best places to find the ripest fruit. Hadn't they warned her not to go into the plane because it was dangerous? What about the polar bear? Hadn't she heard it tell her it was hot and hungry? It listened to her and ate fruit. Now it was just hot._

She wanted to get up and back away, but her legs were still numb and when she tried to unbend them but they only moved a few inches.

"This is crazy. This isn't real. People can't understand animals like that! No. This is—"

_She could in her state. But it was only as long as she stayed on the island. When she left, she wouldn't hear animals every again._

Samantha's instincts were screaming at her to run, but she couldn't. Her body was physically incapable of obeying. She looked away.

"That doesn't make any sense. None of this makes any sense."

_On this island, everything made sense. Even she made sense._

She looked up, surprised by the reply. Was that humor? So she asked. "Did you just make a joke?"

_It tried to._

She smiled a little. "I didn't expect you to have a sense of humor."

_Was she okay?_

She nodded. "I think so. I can't move my legs yet, they're numb."

Thunder crashed overhead and she could hear the rain coming through the jungle. She looked back at the trees, wishing she could get back to the sheltered spot.

_What was she looking at?_

"The rain's coming and I can't get back under the tree or whatever I was under last night.

The cloud moved over her and spread out in an arcing dome. _It hadn't been a tree. It stayed over her all night so she didn't get wet._

The rain started falling hard and ran off the cloud. She looked up at it.

"I guess… Even bad can be good."

_Without one, could there be the other?_

At that moment that Samantha realized the creature was far more intelligent than any animal she'd ever encountered, and that amazed her. Too bad there was no one she could share this discovery with.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Samantha came into camp at the height of Jack and Locke arguing about where guns had been hidden. She stopped with a small group, watching the two. It had been months since they'd returned to the beach and the clique had found a hatch with supplies. Life continued being a never-ending soap opera with drama after drama.

She turned to head back into the jungle as Sawyer came out with a shotgun slung over his shoulder. They glanced at each other, but he didn't really see her. He was looking at Jack and Locke; both which noticed him, and she could see a fabulous argument about to be launched. She hurried into the jungle, deciding that guns and screaming never mixed well.

"Where you off to?" someone asked.

She stopped. Did she really hear a voice or was it an animal?

"You know…" the voice continued. "I see you here every so often, but when things get real interesting around here, you're either gone or rushing off."

She turned, staring at Hurley. She was dumbfounded. No one in the camp spoke to her. She assumed that also meant that no one noticed when she came or went.

"So… Where are you off to?" Hurley asked.

She stepped back when he got too close. She didn't like how he was looking at her – like she was a criminal or worse.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully.

"Why do you always take off like this? Are you one of them?"

She was confused by the reference. "Them?"

"One of the Others? Are you one?"

She had heard the rest of the people use that term often, but she didn't really know what it meant.

"What is The Others?"

He laughed, approaching her. She retreated. He stopped, along with his laughter.

"Either you're lying or you really need to spend more time here."

She glanced at the camp when Jack's voice rose. She couldn't understand what he was yelling. She looked back at Hurley.

"I like my peace and quiet. You can understand that."

"No. Not really." Hurley frowned. "I think we should talk to Jack."

She shook her head, retreating as he stepped forward.

"Yeah. I think you need to." He grabbed for her arm.

She spun and took off running.

"STOP!" Hurley yelled, running after her as best he could.

She was sure she could gain on him. He wasn't in any shape to chase her for long. She was right. Until she tripped and her foot tangled in a vine. She turned, tugging it to pull free. She got it free as he reached her. He reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her to a stop.

"Who… Are… You?" he panted.

She twisted and pulled. "LET ME GO!"

"No." Hurley was starting to catch his breath. "You're one of them. You're going back with me."

"I'm not one of anybody. Let go!"

She pulled back and his fingernails scratched her arm. She grabbed the spot, glaring at him.

"Just leave me along, Hurley!"

Off to their right the creature trumpeted. Hurley paled and as his eyes grew large with fright. He grabbed her arm, pulling her forward. She stumbled and then pulled back.

"We have to hide."

"So hide."

"Samantha… Samantha, right?"

She didn't answer.

"Look, this thing is dangerous. We have to hide!"

It trumpeted again. _It was coming to help her._

She looked in its direction, confused by the remark. Hurley grabbed her arm again and she stepped back, yanking her arm free. It threw him off balance and he stumbled back, tripped over a log, and sat down hard. The trees crashed and groaned and the cloud burst out of the limbs, arching up. It hovered in the air, aimed at Hurley. Suddenly Samantha understood. She rushed in front of Hurley, facing it.

"NO!" she ordered.

_He harmed you. It felt her pain._

"No. He… It's… It's a human thing. It's okay."

_It felt her pain._

She glanced at the reddened scratches. "No. It's just a scratch."

_Scratch?_

"Yeah. He was trying to stop me."

_Stop you from doing what?_

"We're fighting over something. Really. It's okay. Don't hurt him."

"Samantha, who are you talking to?" Hurley asked.

"Stay down and shut up, Hurley."

The cloud lowered until it was in front of her face. _Someday they might tell it to kill Hurley._

"Why? What has he done?"

It didn't respond.

Samantha reached up and put her hand into the darkness. It was cool and soft and she saw flashes of lives in her mind – some good, some not. She ran her hand along the darkness and the lives changed. She felt its pleasure of her affection and how it echoed her feeling of friendship.

"If they haven't told you, then don't hurt him. He's allowed to disagree with me. I disagree with you sometimes, don't I?"

_It agreed; there had been several times._

"Then go on. Go play. Tomorrow I'll come back and we can take a nice, long walk. How about it? You told me that place where I could picnic. I'd like to see that tomorrow. Can we do that?"

_Of course. It wanted to show her all its favorite places on the island._

"Then go on. I have to work this out on my own. Go on."

_It would go. Today this human would be unharmed because she wished it._

Chittering and purring, the cloud disappeared into the jungle. She sighed, turning to face Hurley. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"Dude… You and that thing were talking?"

She nodded. He got to his feet, keeping several feet between them.

"You're from this island, aren't you?"

"No. I'm from California."

"You were talking to that thing, Samantha! How is that possible?"

"You know, there are a lot of things that are happening that I don't understand how they're possible. I don't know about these others you're talking about, I don't know what _that_ even is, or why I can talk to animals."

"All animals?"

"All animals."

"Is that thing a killer?"

"I guess. It's told who to kill."

"What'd'ya mean?"

"I mean something or someone tells it who has to die."

Hurley rubbed his face, turned away from her, and then turned back.

"You gotta tell me—"

"I don't have to tell you shit!"

"You say you're a survivor like us, but you don't live in the camp. You tell me you talk to that thing, but I don't hear anything. You say someone tells it who to kill, but you don't know who. I have to have better answers than that."

"You _have_ to have better answers? Is it like your _job_ to know these things? Did _Jack_ assign you that job? Are you suddenly the Gestapo? Hey, you're different young lady, we're going to treat you like a hostage and beat the answers out of you!"

"I never said that."

"You may as well have!"

"I'm telling them all about this." Hurley turned to leave.

"Hurley that could be a really bad idea."

He turned, glaring at her. "Is that a _threat_?"

"No. I just don't know what it would do if a mob came hunting for it."

Hurley's lips pressed together. He leaned close, shaking his finger in her face. "This will only end badly for you, Samantha."

They stared at each other for a long minute.

She finally shrugged. "Story of my life."

Hurley spun and stormed away.

Samantha watched him, half expecting him to turn back and yell at her. When he disappeared into the jungle she turned and continued walking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"SAMANTHA!" a voice yelled from below.

She paused, her hand still on a coconut, and stared at Hurley below her.

"Yeah?"

"We need to talk. Now!"

She pulled the coconut off and let it drop. He jumped away to avoid being hit. She turned her head to hide her smile and started shimming down the tree. She leapt the last couple of feet, landing at his feet.

"You climbed that without a rope or anything?"

She grinned. "I'm full of surprises." She grabbed a bag and started filling it with coconuts. "You wanted to talk?"

"That thing grabbed Locke and nearly killed him."

She laughed, looking at him. "Yeah. It told me about that. It was just playing. It wasn't going to hurt him."

"It was going to drag him into a hole."

"So?"

"It scared Kate out of her mind!"

"It scares everyone out of their mind."

"It could have killed him!"

"You're overreacting."

"Sa—"

"Hurley. I don't control it. I told you that." She stuffed the last coconut in her bag. "And it was just playing. It wasn't sent to kill him."

"Tell it not to do it again."

She walked past him, informing him, "After all the fuss it caused, it has no intention of playing with any of you losers ever again." She thrust her hand back at him, forming an L with her thumb and index finger. "LOSERS!"

She glanced back to find him glowering at her. She laughed.

"It wasn't funny, Samantha."

"If it happened to Locke, it was damned funny!" She trotted down an embankment, losing sight of him.

Her smile dropped and she looked ahead. She'd just lied. It had been sent to kill Locke and if Kate hadn't pulled him away, it would have. But the order changed for some reason and he was safe. For now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Samantha walked around a bush and stopped. Hurley was sitting at the end of fresh turned sand, staring at it. A crude cross was staked in the sand with 'Libby' carved into it. She had seen the two together and she could tell they were in love.

Samantha continued walking, glancing over her shoulder. He didn't even acknowledge her passing. Samantha slipped soundlessly into the jungle; headed for the spot she'd been meeting the creature. Tension in the camp had grown since Jack and Lock stopped letting the others go to the hatch and she was careful never to take the same path twice in case someone decided to follow her to the treeless ridge. She wondered why it was treeless and yet the grass grew so tall here.

She heard clicking and smiled, but didn't stop or turn. It was a game they played. The creature liked to surprise her and made this strange sound she thought was laughter.

Today it circled around in front of her and suddenly sprang into the air like it was going to pounce on her. Then it fell, circling around her waist. She laughed and enjoyed the coolness of it against her hot skin. It floated beside her as she walked.

"Things are getting really crazy back at camp."

_It knew. It watched them at night. One was to die soon._

She almost asked who, but she knew it wouldn't tell her. It was loyal to her, yes, but she was sure that—

_Eko._

She stopped short, not looking at it. "I didn't need to know. I didn't… I didn't want to know."

It slowly circled her. _Then why did she think it?_

She shot it a disdainful look. "You need to mind your manners and stay out of my thoughts, mister."

It made the sound she called laughter. It was the cross between raccoon chatter and a horse whinny. She laughed, shaking her head.

"You're weird."

_She didn't have much to compare it to_.

Samantha swished her hand through the smoke, hitting nothing. It rolled away a couple feet and then came back, moving close to her.

_You're sad._

She nodded. "There's this guy, Hurley, and—"

_Hugo. It met him, remember?_

"I forgot. Anyway, he was dating this woman, Libby, and—"

_It knew her too._

"Can I finish without you interrupting every other word?"

It laughed and she smiled.

"So, as I was saying before you _rudely_ interrupted."

It chittered but she continued.

"I heard Kate tell him she was shot. Since she was buried he hasn't left her grave. I feel bad for him. Reminds me when I buried my family."

_ They told it about the event._

"I wish I could do something for him. He's so sad." She stopped, looking down the slope to her left. "Do you know where there are any flowers? Maybe that would help him."

It zipped past her, down the hill.

"Hey! Wait!" She started running after it.

_Wait there. It was going to find what she needed._

Samantha stopped, watching it disappearing into the trees. She stood for a while before finally sitting down and waiting. After a while she laid back on the grass and stared at the blue sky. The day was heating up and the breeze felt good. She closed her eyes, dozing.

Chittering woke her and she looked up at it. It showered a mass of flowers on her. She was startled when something solid hit her chest and slid off. She sat up, looking at the white and silver object. She picked it up and turned it over, realizing it was a chocolate bar.

"Where did you get this?" She looked up at it.

_Secrets of the land. One day it might show her what they were. Today, though, she'd lie and say she stashed it, give it to Hugo with the flowers and make him not so sad._

She reached up, brushing her fingers against the creature. "You are so sweet. I wish everyone knew you like I did."

_So did it._

She gathered the flowers into a bouquet and headed back to the graveyard. Before they reached the trees the creature disappeared into the grass. Samantha came out of the jungle and found Hurley where she'd left him. She walked over and crouched down. He didn't acknowledge her.

Samantha sat the chocolate bar on his leg. She walked up to the branches lashed to make a cross and arranged the flowers around it.

"Where'd you get this?" he asked, holding up the candy bar.

"I sort of stole a couple. Just two. I thought, maybe, today you needed it more than I did." Samantha stood, watching his eyes follow her. "It's soul food. You know what I mean? It's good to eat when you're upset."

He looked at the chocolate bar. "Thanks."

Samantha nodded, walking away.

"You're lying, though."

She stopped, looking back at him. He was staring into the jungle.

"About what?"

"Where you got this. We ran out a while ago and we never brought them to the beach. So I know you didn't get it from the hatch. Did the Smoke Monster give it to you?"

She smiled. "Yeah. It really did think the candy bar might help you feel better."

He looked at her, furrowing his brow. "Chocolate won't make this go away."

"I said it might make you feel better, not make it go away."

Hurley looked at the candy bar. Samantha took a step back toward him.

"Hurley, I know what you're going through. I'm really sorry you had to know what this was like."

"It's not like losing a pet or your grandparents 'cause they're old, Samantha."

"My family was murdered."

He looked up, surprised by the information.

"Someone set our house on fire and they died in it. What you're feeling will never go away. Not really. But it will hurt a little less every day. I promise."

He looked at her, starting to cry.

She sat down next to him and waited. The tears stopped as the late evening sun washed everything in orange.

"Did they catch who did it?" Hurley asked her.

"Hm?" she asked.

"Did they catch who set fire to your house?"

"Yeah. It was my dad's business partner. He thought my dad was sleeping with his wife but turned out it was actually the guy's best friend."

"Were you mad?"

Samantha thought about the question. She slowly turned her head to look at him. "If you're asking if I went after the man or something, no."

"But… He killed your family like Ben killed Libby and—"

"No, Hurley. Don't be like the other guy."

"He killed her."

She looked him in the eye. "Let me tell you what happened to the people that were involved in my family's death. The guy that set the fire was sent to jail. There was a fight and he was stabbed and bled to death. The brakes on his wife's car failed and she ran into a river and drowned. The best friend was working on his roof, the ladder slipped and landed against a power line, and he was electrocuted. That, Hurley, is how I know that revenge doesn't work. Fate will settle the score for you. It bides its time, and it finds the right moment to strike. Whoever killed Libby won't know what hit him when it does." She laid her hand on Hurley's arm. "You may think you want to get revenge, but I think that just destroys a person's soul."

Hurley looked at the grave.

"Besides, would Libby want you to avenge her like that?"

He shook his head.

"Then you sit here, talk to her, and enjoy the chocolate. I'll bring back some water and blankets. Okay?"

Hurley looked at her. "You can be really nice when you want to be."

Samantha leaned in, wrinkled her nose, and told him, "Ditto."

He smiled a little. She patted his arm as she got up. "Be back in a flash."

He bobbed his head, looking back at Libby's grave.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Samantha came through the trees and stopped. Startled, Rose and Bernard sprang to their feet, staring back. There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Rose finally smiled.

"Good morning, Samantha."

She smiled. Rose knew everyone's name. It was her knack.

"Hi." She looked around Sun's garden. "What are you two up to?"

"Well, with Sun gone, I thought we should keep the garden up. We need the food."

"Good idea."

"You've been gone for a few days. Where were you off to?" Bernard asked.

Samantha looked at him. They both looked nervous still.

"The caves." Samantha dug out a worn copy of War and Peace, grinning. "I have a nasty habit of getting into a book and I can't put it down. And I'm not the world's speediest reader!"

That relaxed them. Rose chuckled and Bernard smiled.

"Well, it's always good too—"

They both looked in the direction of an explosion. Following it was a high-pitched, painful noise and the sky turned purple. It sent Rose and Bernard to their knees with their ears covered.

Samantha didn't see them, or hear the noise, or see the sky turn purple. She saw only blinding white light with sparking silver at the edges. At first all she could hear was a whine like a jet engine about to explode. It warbled and became every voice on the island, no matter how far or near they were. And then more voices, and more, and more. The sound was a deafening roar, as if every person on the planet was suddenly right there and talking at the top of his or her lungs. And then everything went black.

#

Hurley spun around when the creature trumpeted. All around him, the survivors stopped to watch the jungle. They were all expecting it to come out at any moment. He turned, continuing on to Rose and Bernard's tent. Rose knelt next to Samantha, dabbing her face with a wet cloth. Hurley handed her a bottle. He glanced back at when Claire walked past the tent. She was pacing and bouncing Aaron. Even before the creature began trumpeting Aaron was screaming and crying. Nothing Claire did was working to calm the infant.

The creature trumpeted again.

Rose looked in its direction. Hurley closed his eyes, pressing his lips together. Rose sighed in the silence that followed.

"Why won't it go away?" Rose asked. "It's been doing that for three days straight. I don't think anyone's got any sleep." She looked at Claire. "And that baby screaming isn't helping anyone."

"He's just spook—"

The creature trumpeted again.

"That's it." Hurley tossed the bottle in the sand as he stood.

Rose looked at it and then his back as he strode toward the jungle. "Hugo?" she called.

He focused on the jungle. Maybe Samantha warned the creature not to come into camp, or maybe it couldn't, but he suspected it wasn't going to stop until it knew why she hadn't come into the jungle for three days.

"Hurley?" Charlie called.

He reached the edge of the trees and someone grabbed his arm, pulling him back. He turned. Charlie was staring wide-eyed at him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Going to have a talk with that thing."

"What? Are you mad?"

"Yeah!"

"I meant insane."

"That too." Hurley pulled away, continuing into the jungle.

Charlie followed until the creature trumpeted again. He backed up, unable to muster the courage to follow.

#

Hurley climbed over a log, scanning the jungle for the creature. He kept hearing it, but the direction changed every time. Hurley stopped walking.

"Hey!" Hurley called into the jungle. "Hey, I gotta talk to you… Thing."

There was silence.

"Hey, dude, I, like, need to talk to you."

There was no answer. He heard a strange chittering noise to his right and turned. There was nothing there, but he was sure he had the creature's attention.

"It's about Samantha. She's really sick."

Suddenly the creature flew out of a tree above and straight at him. Hurley backpedaled until a tree stopped him. He pressed hard against it as the creature came within inches of him. He held his breath as a form appeared on the surface. It took the shape of Samantha's face.

"Yeah. Samantha's sick, dude. Rose and Bernard said that when the sky turned purple, she just collapsed."

The chittering noise came from the creature followed by a low animal growl.

"I didn't do it!" Hurley said.

The face turned toward the camp and it began slowly drifting that direction.

"They didn't either!" Hurley ran around in front of it, blocking it from going further.

The face moved to face him and changed to look like Jack.

"The other people took him. They—"

The face changed to Ben's face, and Hurley's stomach tensed. He nodded.

"Yeah. He took him."

The face moved across the back of the creature and an unearthly scream erupted. Hurley grabbed his ears, crouching. He closed his eyes when the creature began growling and trumpeting. All around him trees began crunching and crashing to the ground. The noise stopped suddenly.

Something cool rested on his arm and Hurley lifted his head, staring at the creature. A small piece of it hung over his arm, over the cool spot. Slowly he stood again. Suddenly it changed and became Walt. Hurley held his breath. What was this thing up to?

"Can you understand me?" it asked.

"Uh… Yeah."

"I want to know, every day, how she is. You will come here and tell me. You will come alone."

"Dude, I—"

"She's my only friend. I am worried."

Hurley slowly started nodding. "Okay. I'll do that for… both of you. I'll do that."

It smiled. "You are very kind." It morphed back into the creature and disappeared into the jungle.

Hurley let out his breath, closing his eyes. In the distance, the creature trumpeted.

#

Eight-year-old Samantha sat in a room with a dozen happy children. She wasn't happy, and stared blankly at the empty plate in front of her. Someone put four pancakes on her plate, but she didn't look up. Two pieces of bacon dropped onto her plate. A spoonful of eggs was dolloped beside the pancakes. As everyone started eating, the noise decreased. Still she stared at her food, unaffected by the sight of it or sound of the other children eating.

"Samantha, honey, you need to eat something," a quiet voice told her.

She didn't move. Someone put their hands on her shoulders.

"Samantha, you haven't eaten in two days. Please eat."

She closed her eyes, starting to cry. She felt an arm around her shoulders, but didn't respond to it. The person tried to hug her but she pulled away, suddenly screaming and kicking. She pulled free and ran out of the house, out into a pasture. She ran until she collapsed and cried herself to sleep.

When she woke, it was night. She could hear people calling her name, but she didn't answer. She didn't want to be found. She wanted to spend the rest of her life lost from a world that stole everything she loved.

Something touched her arm and she opened her eyes again. A large rabbit sniffed her, its whiskers tickling the hair on her arm. She smiled a little, turning her hand over. She didn't notice how blue her hand was as her body was slowly submitting to hypothermia. The rabbit sniffed her hand. Slowly she petted its side. It hopped a little closer to let her pet it.

"Can we be friends?" she whispered.

A branch snapped and the rabbit froze. A flashlight beam flashed across them and the rabbit ran off. Samantha let her hand fall as her eyes drifted close.

"Samantha," someone said to her. She was lifted into someone's arms and blankets were wrapped around her.

"Samantha, open your eyes. Look at me."

She didn't obey right away.

#

She opened her eyes and found Hurley sitting next to her reading a book. From the wear of the book, she guessed it had been read several times. The sun behind Hurley cast an unusual pale halo around his body.

"Hey," Samantha said.

Hurley looked down at her and smiled. She returned it. He looked different, but she couldn't finger what the difference was.

"You're awake. Hi."

"How long was I out?"

"Six days."

Samantha rolled onto her back, putting her hand to her head. It ached dully. She started to sit up and he was quick to help her.

"I'll go get you some fruit and water. Don't try to get up."

"No chance."

Hurley was gone only for a few seconds. He sat back down, handing over a cut up mango and bottle of water. She sat them on her lap, staring at them.

"Something wrong?" Hurley asked.

"What happened to me?" She looked into his eyes. "I remember talking to Rose and Bernard in Sun's garden. And then… Then I remember this bright white flash of light and nothing."

"Purple."

"What?"

"It was a purple flash of light. The entire sky turned purple. Everyone here said they heard this really high pitched, painful noise."

She picked up a piece of mango, biting into it. "I didn't see a purple."

"Are you sure you're okay? You're like… Not you."

She stopped eating and looked out to the ocean. "I don't ever want to leave here, Hurley."

"Why not?"

She looked at him, smiling. In a hushed voice she told him, "If I leave here, I might not be able to hear animals anymore. I like talking to them."

"Maybe that's all in your head."

"Before the accident… Before I woke up here…" She hesitated. Her eyes watered as tears tried to force their way out. "I talked to dead people."

Hurley stared at her. "You talked to dead people?"

"Don't make fun of it."

"I wasn't. I… Just… Are you sure it wasn't just in your mind?"

"No. It wasn't. I wish it was. Imagine how it feels to wake up in the middle of the night and find some guy with a hole in his gut standing at the end of your bed. My neighbor called the police I screamed so loud. And living in apartments, where people have died, that hasn't been fun." She took a bite into the fruit. "I kept it hid, but having both these abilities and dealing with all the stress back home… I'd crack, I think."

"So you're charge is awake, I see," Locke said behind them.

The two turned, watching him walk up. Locke smiled until he met Samantha's eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hurley turn to look at her. But she couldn't look away. She'd seen him dozens of times and always kept quiet what she thought of him. She sensed there was something he was hiding and it was death to anyone who discovered it. Regardless, she'd never, ever seen his face so ugly. He looked old beyond his years and his scarred face was twisted in a hideous sneer. He was the ugliest human she had ever seen.

"Is something wrong?" Locke asked.

Samantha forced herself to look away from his hideous face. She quickly shook her head.

"Are you sure?" Hurley asked. "You're at least six shades of pale."

Samantha didn't answer. A long silence fell between the three. Locke smiled suddenly.

"Hurley, can I talk to you a moment?"

Hurley got up and they walked away. Samantha snuck a look over her shoulder. She quickly looked away before Locke noticed her staring. She nibbled on a piece of fruit. Hurley came back and sat down.

"What's wrong, Samantha? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I guess it happened when I was out."

"What happened?"

She looked at him. "His face."

Hurley's brow dipped. "Whose face?"

"John's."

"What about it?"

"It's ugly, like he's been in a fire."

Hurley's head tilted to the side and she knew right away she'd said something wrong.

"What?" she asked him.

"There isn't anything wrong with his face, Samantha. It has a scar, but that's it."

She shook her head, looking at her food.

"But…" He sighed, looking out at the ocean. "Charlie told me something about Desmond. You know who he is?"

She shook her head. Somehow he saw it without looking at her and went on.

"The guy told him that after the hatch exploded he was suddenly able to see the future and stuff. He saw Charlie dying. It changed him. So maybe, somehow, it changed you, too."

"It gave me the ability to see imaginary faces? Coupled with my ability to talk to animals and dead people, how _will_ I use _that_ skill?"

Hurley looked down at her. "Don't mock it, Samantha. For a while now I've believed that some of us have more purpose here than the others here. Maybe you're one of them, just like Desmond."

She looked up at him, meeting his gaze when he looked down at her. She smiled, slowly leaning in to lay her head on his shoulder. He didn't move away. She closed her eyes, listening to the birds talk about their families and the best place to find fruit.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Samantha and Hurley strolled through the valley picking fruit and putting it in bags. Ahead of them the creature wove in and out of the trees, sometimes flying up into the branches to startle birds. Occasionally it would spot a small ground animal and chase it, dashing in between trees even when it would have been faster to go around. Hurley was still leery of it and balked when it got too close, but he was willing to let it be around while they picked fruit.

"It's so hot today. It's got to be at least a hundred degrees," Samantha commented.

"Yeah," he answered.

She wiped her sweaty brow with her arm, smiling at him. "You know what I miss the most about the hatch?"

"Air conditioning?"

"That too. I really enjoyed the shower. And ice cubes. When Libby was done with her shift, she always brought me a glass of ice water. Did you know that?"

"Uh-uh. She'd sneak me chips."

The two fell silent. Ahead the creature had stopped. Samantha noticed and stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" she asked it.

_She enjoyed the hatch that exploded?_

"Yeah. Like I said, I enjoyed the showers and ice cubes?"

It was silent for a long moment.

"What's wrong?"

It flew up to them. _What if it knew about another hatch with showers and ice cubes and air conditioning?_

Samantha stared at it, not sure if she dared to believe that.

"What? What it say?" Hurley asked.

She shook her shock by slightly shaking her head. "Another one that we have to press a button all the time?"

_No. It never had occupants. It was built and either forgotten or never used. No one ever goes to it. Did she want it to take them there?_

"What's it saying?" Hurley insisted.

"It knows where there's another hatch that no one's ever been in."

"We know of a couple of those. They're not much."

"How do you know this one has a shower or anything else?" Samantha asked.

_It didn't. It didn't go in. It didn't like the hatches because they were too small._

She turned to Hurley. "Would hurt to take a look."

Hurley shrugged, and then dropped his bag of fruit. "Naw. We can at least look."

Samantha was sliding her bag off when the creature suddenly rushed at her, engulfing her. It swept Hurley up, making him scream in terror. The creature sped through the jungle, making sharp turns to avoid hitting trees. Hurley's scream turned into laughter and Samantha joined him.

"WOOHOO!" Hurley cried out, raising his hands up.

The creature veered up and shot up through the trees. It raced over the tops of the trees before diving down through an opening in the canopy. It came to an abrupt halt and gently dropped them onto their feet. The two looked around them, confused.

"So… The hatch is… Where?" Samantha added.

_It was in front of her. Through the vines. They weren't very thick._

Samantha walked to the vines and pushed them aside. She stopped when she saw the Dharma symbol on the door. Hurley pushed the vines back further. He grabbed the hatch handle and gave it a tug. It didn't budge. He tugged again and it gave a little. It took a dozen hard tugs to get the rusty handle to turn and release the hatch. A wave of cool air rushed out and inside light bulbs in cages came on.

Samantha looked back at the creature. "We won't be long."

_Take as long as she wanted. It would come back when she call for it._

She smiled. "Thank you."

"What it say?"

"Take as long as we want." Samantha stepped inside. "And it'll come back when we call it."

Hurley looked back, but the creature had already disappeared. He followed Samantha in. The hall sloped down and then evened out. They walked into an area that was identical to the one that exploded. Except where the computer had been in the other hatch, there were tables of dead plants under bright UV lights.

Samantha walked over to the kitchen sink and turned on the water. The water ran dirty for a minute and then cleared. She turned it off with a giggle and spun to face Hurley.

"I'm going to take a shower. I'll toss out my clothes so you can wash them, okay? I'll be at least an hour."

"Okay."

She trotted over to a door and opened it. But instead of the shower she came across another sight that made her gasp. Hurley came to the door and stared. The pantry was stocked with shelves of neatly aligned cans, boxes, and bags of food.

"I'll start supper instead," Hurley said.

She smiled, looping her arm around his. "Are you okay keeping this a secret?"

He looked in her eyes, nodding. "They blew up the last hatch. I'm not telling anyone."

She smiled, kissed his cheek, and trotted off to find the bathroom.

#

Hurley laid on the bottom bunk with his hands behind his head, staring at the bottom of the bunk overhead. Samantha was draped on the edge, staring at the dark kitchen.

"I feel like a kid with a secret hide out," Hurley said.

Samantha smiled. "I never had one."

"Me neither."

"Do we need a secret knock to go with our secret hide out?"

"I'll have to think about that."

They were silent for a few more minutes.

"How about hubba bubba for the secret password?"

She leaned over, staring down at him. He laughed, making her laugh.

"Hubba bubba? Really? That's your best super-secret password?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was."

She rolled onto her back. "You are a dork, Hurley."

He chuckled softly. "Hey, Sam."

"Sam? When did you start calling me Sam?"

"Now. Hey, Sam."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For being my friend."

She smiled, closing her eyes. Sleep was creeping up on her. "Thanks for not telling about my other friend."

The two fell silent, drifting into deep sleep.

In the shadows something moved and the creature in the form of Walt stepped into the light. It sat down in a chair, watching its friends sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Hurley scrubbed shampoo into his hair as he hummed. He hadn't slept so well since the last hatch and it was nice to wake up to the smell of food cooking. Samantha claimed she was just guessing how to make the powdered eggs and milk, but to him, it was the best breakfast he'd had in a long time. He decided to take another hot shower before heading back to the camp and the life he had to live there.

Hurley reached out to grab the bar of soap in the dish and his hand bumped the showerhead. He heard a deep, hallow click. He froze, listening for further sounds, but nothing else followed. He shrugged and finished his shower. Hurley walked over to a bench and started getting dressed in fresh laundered clothes, another treat they'd both indulged in. He was pulling on his shoe when he noticed a dim light against the wall opposite the showers. Hurley crept over to the wall. He leaned against the wall, peeking behind a row of lockers.

"SAMANTHA!" he bellowed.

In a few seconds she was running in. "What? What's happening?"

"There's a room back here. Help me move these lockers out."

With a lot of grunting and muscle they pulled them back far enough so Hurley could get behind them. Samantha stopped next to him, staring at the room. Everything was covered with clear plastic sheets. The source of the light came from several cupboards with lights on in them.

"This looks like…"

"An operating room."

Hurley let out a breath, shaking his head. "This place is for quacks!"

She laughed, leaning against him. He smiled down at her. Her laughter died off.

"What?" she asked.

"This has been a really good two days. I almost forgot where I was."

She hugged him, and then walked over to a covered cupboard. Hurley didn't move. He wasn't sure he wanted to trust the signals she was sending him and risk losing her friendship. In her he'd found a confidant that had so far been unwaveringly.

She lifted a sheet from one and whistled.

"What?"

"We gotta enough drugs here we could become the local drug lords."

"We don't have any buyers."

She looked over her shoulder at him, smiling. "Technicality."

Hurley laughed with her. The two explored the new area, poking through medical equipment and supplies that meant nothing to them.

#

Hurley and Samantha laughed and joked as they walked. The hike back to camp had been a muddy one, hiding all signs they'd had a shower that morning. The two walked into camp and people stopped to say hi, but no one seemed to want to know where they'd been all night.

"Think they got the wrong idea about us?" Samantha whispered.

Hurley laughed. "It would be a good cover."

She giggled. "Do you think—"

"JACK!" Sun's voice cried.

The two looked up to see Jack walking up the beach. Hurley dropped his bag of fruit, joining everyone else to greet him.

But Samantha stood still. She knew Jack's face, but to her eyes it was scarred and distorted. It had been something that she chose to forget since Locke had left. Everyone else in camp looked older or perfect with a soft halo glowing around their bodies. But now someone was back that forced her to remember the island had changed her. Was she going insane or was there some reason she was seeing Jack like this?

Kate and Sayid came around the bushes and their faces were also scarred, although Kate's was much less than the men's. Samantha hugged her arms, looking down. This couldn't really be happening.

Suddenly, in the midst of the rejoicing about Jack, Kate, and Sayid's return, Sawyer bellowed, "What is _she_ doing here!"

The people quieted and everyone turned. She couldn't see who they were talking about. She heard Jack tell Sawyer something, but was too far away from him to hear. She slowly approached, listening to the people complain about 'her' being there. She stepped around Rose and stared. The woman standing on the beach had a grotesque face, twisted like some horror movie monster. The woman looked up and Samantha forgot even how to breathe. She had no eyes, only empty pits of black. Samantha spun and ran into the jungle. Only Hurley noticed her leaving.

#

Hurley stopped walking to call, "SAMANTHA!"

It was the next morning after Jack came back that he realized she was missing from the camp. No one saw her, at least no one that knew who she was. In his search for her an uncomfortable reality surfaced – only five of the survivors knew who Samantha McNally was – he was the fifth.

Hurley stopped at a banyan tree and stuck his head into an opening. She wasn't hiding in the tree. He heard chittering behind him and turned, jumping when he found the black smoke creature behind him.

"Dude! Don't do _that_!"

It let out a sound that sounded sad.

"What's wrong?"

It drifted away and the paused.

"You want me to follow you?"

It moved another foot and stopped. Hurley followed it. It led him to a hidden valley with a waterfall and pool at the head of it. Samantha sat near the water in between two giant roots of a banyan tree.

"Thanks, dude. I got it from here," Hurley told the creature as he walked around it.

The creature stayed where it was.

Hurley climbed down to Samantha and sat down next to her. He didn't speak until he caught his breath.

"This is pretty far from our usual haunts. What's going on?"

Samantha didn't answer. He watched her face.

"Sam, talk to me."

She pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them tight. Hurley moved closer, laying his hand on her knee.

"Samantha, talk to me," Hurley gently urged.

A tear slid down her cheek. He slid his arm around her. She turned toward him and burst into tears. Hurley held her tight, letting her cry. When it passed she sat for a long time in his embrace before she said anything.

"Their faces…" Samantha whispered. "Their faces…"

"Whose?"

"Jack's and Kate's and Sayid's. But that woman. That one they brought back… Hurley…" Samantha started crying again. "It's the worst! It's worse than Locke's! She didn't have any eyes when she looked at me!"

Hurley didn't speak. Even after she stopped crying.

She was startled when he finally said, "I've thought a lot about what you see, Sam. A lot. I think maybe you're seeing people for what they really are."

Samantha sat up, pulling away. She stared at him, shaking her head.

"What?"

"I don't like Juliet. I don't trust her. She kidnapped me and other people. Well, maybe not her directly, but she didn't stop it either, so she may as well have. If I'm right, then I'm not surprised that you saw her so ugly."

"Is she really that ugly? To you?"

He shook his head. "But I don't have your gift."

"Gift," she scoffed. She looked down at the pond. "Talking to animals and seeing grotesque faces aren't gifts."

"They are. It's like… Like no one can lie to you about who they really are, because you'll see exactly what they are. You will know what they are even before they do, and talking to animals is just cool."

She looked up at him "And how do you explain the people I see as they are. Like you?"

"Maybe we're not bad like the ugly ones. At least not _as_ bad, anyway."

"What have you done that's bad?"

"I'm keeping a secret about the creature and the hatch from the others. I've horded food."

"You think those are killing offenses?"

"Some would say so."

She leaned on him again and he put his arm around her. "I won't go back until she's gone."

Hurley shook his head. "You have to tell Jack what you saw in her."

"No. Then I'd have to tell him what I saw in him."

"Then tell her what you see in her."

"Hurley, if she's so evil it makes her ugly, I can't possibly tell her and trust her not to do anything. That's like telling a murderer you know they murdered people and expecting them not to murder you."

"Find a way. She needs to know someone knows what she really is."

She looked up at him. "Why are you so insistent about this?"

"She's one of The Others and they're dangerous people, Sam. If she at least thinks someone knows she's not what she claims, then maybe she'll think twice about whatever she's been sent here to do."

"And if that doesn't work?"

Hurley looked away, staring at the creature. "Then I hope whoever commands him knows she should really be… You know… Taken off the planet."

Samantha looked at the creature and then Hurley. He was determined about this and she suspected his motives were vengeful, but he was asking her and it wasn't like she was actually hurting Juliet.

"Okay. I'll do this for you."

Hurley nodded. The friends fell silent, staring at the pond.

#

Juliet sat the books down on her blanket and turned to grab a shirt hanging from a rope. She ran right into Samantha, who didn't move or look away.

"Hello," Juliet said with a smile.

Samantha stared at her. "You shouldn't be here."

Juliet was used to this by now. Even though she 'saved' Claire's life, people still treated her like the outsider she was. Conversations stopped when she came near, people turned their backs when she approached them. It was difficult to keep her cover when she wanted to lash out at the people for how they treated her.

"What about me off—"

"You're a liar. You're an ugly, ugly, liar. It's all over your face. If you were ever a good person, you're not now." Samantha stepped close and this time Juliet was the one that held her ground. So Samantha stepped even closer and moved in till they were practically nose-to-nose. "You are evil, Juliet, and only you can save yourself from it. You and those people you come from _think_ you own this place, you all _think_ that you are in control, but you're not even close. The Smoke Monster and whoever controls it does. Choose carefully what you do from this point."

Juliet stared into the woman's eyes. Perhaps Samantha was just tricking her, playing a mind game like Ben. Samantha didn't blink or back down. No. This woman was being quite honest.

"You know who controls the Smoke Monster?"

Samantha smiled and it was cold. "If I did, you'd be dead already." Samantha backed up two steps. "Leave these people alone. I won't warn you again."

Samantha turned her back on Juliet and walked away. Juliet was tempted to grab her and beat out of her the information she knew about the creature. Was she talking about the creature? Did she have control of it?

"Are you alright?" she heard Jack ask and turned.

He stood behind her, watching her with concern.

"Yeah."

"What was she saying?"

"That she really hates me and wishes I were dead. Like I haven't heard that already."

"Samantha said that to you?"

Juliet nodded. "You seem surprised."

"That woman doesn't talk to anyone here, except Hurley."

"She talked to me and it wasn't nice."

"Like what? You seem really upset."

"She threatened my life Jack. But then, so have Sayid and Sawyer. They don't trust me, what can you expect."

"You're awfully forgiving of them."

Juliet shrugged. Secretly she had to be. It was her assignment from Ben, wasn't it?

"I'll go talk to her."

"No. It's okay."

"I'm putting a stop to this."

Jack walked off before she could object. On one hand she was grateful for his wanting to protect her. On the other hand, Jack could be walking into a trap.

#

Jack jogged through the jungle, catching glimpses of Samantha ahead.

"Samantha!" he called.

He'd called since he saw her, but she didn't stop. Was it selective hearing or did she really not hear him?

He ducked under a leaf and when he stood up, she was gone. He jogged a few more feet before he realized she really was gone. He stopped, putting his hands on his hips.

"What?" Samantha asked.

He turned one way, and then the other, and then looked up. She stood on a steep sloped ridge that rose twelve feet or more over him.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure."

"Could you come down here?"

"No. What do you want, Jack?"

"Juliet said you threatened her."

"I did more than that. I promised she'd regret it if she caused any harm to my friends."

"By you?"

"No.."

"By who then?"

Samantha didn't answer.

"Did Sayid ask you to tell her that?"

Samantha scoffed. "I don't even like Sayid."

"Sawyer?"

"No. And before you ask, only five people speak to me and none of them asked either."

"Then you did it on your own?"

"Pretty much. I was headed somewhere, so cut to the chase."

"Juliet isn't a bad person. She—"

"I see people for what they really are, Jack. I have since the hatch blew up. If they're good, I see their faces as they really are. But the more wicked and twisted a person is the more grotesque their faces become. Take you, for example. There are parts of your face that are quite normal, but there are other parts that are scarred and twisted. You haven't gotten past things you've done, or you're going to do something you shouldn't. Then there are people like Juliet. She is absolutely hideous. Her faces is all twisted and messed up. Just like John's. She's done evil, she's still doing evil, and she will continue to be evil. But she has you so bitch whipped you're thinking with your crotch and not your head and can't see it"

"You expect me to believe you can see people for what they really are?"

"Yeah."

Jack shook his head from disbelief. "What I believe is you need some psychiatric help!"

"Couldn't argue that. Not after this place. But that's not in my head, Jack. It's what I see and that woman is a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Jack shook his head. "You don't know her."

"_You_ don't know her." Samantha turned to leave.

"Did you threaten to kill her?"

Samantha turned back. "I never said _I_ was going to kill her."

"Then who is?"

Jack quickly recoiled when the smoke creature appeared at Samantha's side. A low chittering began as it coiled around her waist and hung over her shoulder like a snake.

"This island chooses who it changes and I don't know why I was one of the chosen. Juliet is walking on a thin line and it won't be long before whoever controls this creature will order her dead. If you care so much about her, change her. Now I'm going to go pick some coconuts."

She and the creature disappeared over the ridge, leaving a stunned Jack. In a burst, he took off at a run for the camp.

#

"Tell me about Samantha."

Hurley was sitting in the shade of a tree reading a book. He looked up at the voice, watching Jack stop beside him.

"What?"

"Samantha. I want to know about her. How long has she been talking to that creature? Can she really see a person like she says? And is she one of them or us?"

"Why are you suddenly interested in her?"

"I just saw that creature treat her like a master and then pick her up and take her away."

"It doesn't consider her a master, dude."

"Then what does it consider her?"

"A friend. They've been talking since the crash. She likes it. I do too, actually."

Jack was stunned. "You've talked to it?"

"Well, not talk to it, really. I mean she understands it. I talk to it like I'm talking to a dog. It can kind of show me it understands. Unless it takes the form of a human. Then it can talk. But it doesn't do that much."

"Why did it kill Eko?"

"Eko was bad, bad, man. He' done really bad things and was impersonating a priest. Yeah, so, it killed him. It was told to."

"By her?"

"Naw. Apparently someone or something else commands it."

"Ben?"

"It hates Ben and The Others."

"And us?"

"Undecided."

"So she's for real?"

"For real."

Jack stood, looking out at the ocean. "Unbelievable."

"Well she—"

He turned, snarling, "Unbelievable that you'd keep this a secret for this long."

"Yeah, because you haven't kept any secrets here, _Jack_. And then you drag _Juliet_ home. That woman's bad news, Jack. I mean, from what Samantha told me, she's pretty ugly. That means she—"

"She told me what that means. I don't believe her."

Hurley stood, facing him. "You better start to, Jack, because I think she's right. And before you push off disbelief in her, think about all the other crazy things you've seen, heard, or done on this island. And you think she's not believable? You're a hypocrite."

Hurley stormed away, leaving Jack to deal with his own problems.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

She hummed as she walked through the dark jungle. It was a soft tune that she believed her mother hummed when she was little – but in reality she didn't remember much of her mother, or any of her family. She kept a shoebox of photos tucked in the back of her closet with the Christmas ornaments. It came out once a year two weeks before Christmas, and returned a week after Christmas. But as the years had drifted past, their faces had become more like strangers. Everything they had once been to her had faded to nothing. She could stare at their faces for hours and feel nothing – no pain, no love, no sorrow, no real joy.

Samantha stopped humming and walking, straining to hear the noise that had grabbed her attention. She stood quiescent, holding her breath so she could hear the faint noise again. Her breath caught when she heard someone softly cough off to her right. Stealthily she slipped in between the roots of a banyan tree toward the compact center.

Whoever was coming was moving as quietly as she had but she couldn't tell how many there were. Two beams of flashlights swung through the darkness, darting like fireflies from place to place. Now she could tell there were two people.

Samantha's heart leapt into her throat when something cool brushed against her arm. She looked down, watching the cloud creature move into the space around her. She noticed that the light didn't penetrate its darkness; it was keeping her hidden.

The people passed and her eyes narrowed when she recognized Ben and Locke. She pushed her lips together as the urge to lunge out and start beating on one or the other. It was a strong feeling.

_Don't listen to it. It's this place. You're too near it and it is full of anger. _

She closed her eyes. She wanted to ask what it was that made her feel like screaming with rage. She felt the creature tighten around her. Coolness spread over her mouth.

_Don't do it, Samantha. Don't scream. Don't let it control you._

She couldn't hear the footsteps anymore. Finally the creature moved away. She opened her eyes, seeing its darker shape just outside of the tree.

_Run. Run from this place and quickly._

"What is this place?" she whispered.

_There wasn't time for answers. Go before his anger reaches her._

"Whose?"

_GO! NOW!_

She was stunned that it was yelling at her. Then the surge of anger came back, making her grit her teeth. She hurried out of the tree and ran.

_Don't stop until you're too tired to run anymore. Then you'll be far enough!_

Her mind held onto the order. It distracted her as she ran through the night. So when her leg hit the trip wire, only by experience did her body freeze. She looked down at the trip wire and then around her for the trap that Danielle had set. She saw it hiding in the trees. A half covered arrow, ready to spring the minute her leg moved back. She was going to have to move fast and pray whatever mechanism held it was old enough that it moved slower.

Lunging forward so her leg was the last thing to move, Samantha dove for the ground. The trip wire snapped, releasing the arrow. It grazed across her back, burning as it sliced through her skin, and lodged into a tree. She hit the ground hard, despite trying to catch herself. She looked up at the quivering arrow.

"Damn you Danielle."

Samantha spun into sitting position when she heard a scream. It was high pitched and angry, like a banshee had just set out to exact some penance. It was nothing like the creature's scream or any animal she'd ever heard. It cursed Ben's name over and over, it wanted him dead, and it wanted him dead now. It wanted someone to kill him for it. Then suddenly it stopped.

Samantha practically fell over herself scrambling to her feet to run. And she didn't stop until she'd reached the beach, dripping with sweat and panting. But the survivors slept, unaware that there was something even worse than the smoke creature on the island. Something that hated Ben as much as they did.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Aaron cried at the top of his lungs as Jack examined him. Not even the doctor's light touch and soft words soothed the child. Jack finally wrapped him up and lifted him into his arms. He stood, turning to Claire, Charlie, and Sawyer. Sawyer had practically drug Claire to Jack because he was tired of the boy crying and keeping him up all night. The root cause may be selfish, but Jack was glad he was able to recognize that Jack was still a doctor and might be able to help. And if truth were told, he really thought this was more Juliet's expertise, but he knew better than to pass Claire's child to Juliet. Charlie and Sawyer would probably tear them apart if she touched the baby.

"I think he has colic," Jack said.

"What is that?" Charlie asked.

"Is there anything I can do?" Claire asked.

"The kid ate too much grain?" Sawyer asked.

Jack almost laughed at Sawyer's question. It was a glaring example of both Sawyer's naivety and redneck background. He heard Juliet stifle a giggle that made Sawyer shoot her a dark glare.

"You're thinking of a horse, Sawyer. No one really knows what causes it. You can try walking and rocking. Sit closer to the ocean and see if the sound helps."

"I've tried all that already."

"I'm sorry, Claire. This isn't something I can fix. A lot of babies go through this and we're limited on what we can do here."

"He could have gas," Juliet suggested.

Everyone looked at her. She was watching the child. Claire held Aaron a little tighter and stepped closer to Charlie.

"I've tried burping him and his stomach isn't hard."

"Oh." Juliet offered a weak smile. "I guess I don't know then."

"If it was, do we have anything that would work?" Jack asked her.

"You could try diluted coconut milk."

Jack turned to Claire. "Try it."

She glanced at the kitchen. "There aren't any. We ate the last one last night."

"Who's been getting them? Ask them to get some more."

"Samantha gets them, but I haven't seen her for a couple of days," Charlie told him.

"Who's Samantha?" Claire and Sawyer asked.

Jack glanced down at Juliet. She didn't look any happier than he felt about the thought of talking to Samantha. Juliet's dislike for her was for the threat; his was for the company the young woman kept. He hadn't told anyone that she talked to the strange smoke monster for fear she might retaliate by siccing it on him or the other survivors.

"Jack, Samantha isn't here. What should I do?"

"Doesn't she hang out with Hurley?" Jack asked.

"_Who_ is Samantha?" Sawyer asked again.

"That's right. Thank you, Jack."

Charlie left with Claire following. Sawyer watched them leave and then looked back at Jack.

"Who's Samantha?" he asked.

Jack didn't answer.

#

Samantha stopped walking and leaned on a tree, staring into the jungle. The creature was floating off to her left, stopping here and there to scare out animals. It came over to her, slowly circling her.

_What is it?_

Samantha closed her eyes, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead. "I feel… Off."

_Off?_

She opened her eyes and continued walking. "Like I have the flu."

_What is that?_

"A sickness humans get. Animals too, sometimes."

_Humans don__'__t get sick here. They don__'__t get hurt. Well__…__ Most don__'__t._

"No one ever dies here? Then how do you kill people?"

_They don't die. Their life leaves when it's time._

"That doesn't make any sense. What does that mean?"

_It couldn't explain it. There were no words for it to explain what it felt or saw happen to those people._

Samantha grabbed a tree when the world tilted and spun. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the trunk.

_Samantha?_

Her knees buckled, sending her to the ground.

_Samantha?_

She heard the worry in the question. Slowly she picked herself back up and started walking. "Is the hatch or beach closer?"

_Hatch._

"Take me there. I need to lie down for a while."

It swept her up and away. She was unconscious by the time they arrived at the hatch. The creature dropped her gently at the door and changed into Walt. It knelt next to her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Samantha?" it spoke. "Samantha, look at me."

She didn't respond. It stood, looking around it for an answer. This was not a situation it knew and it was unsettled.

#

Hurley was helping Jin and Sun fix a fishing net, but he could hear the screams of Aaron getting closer. He finally looked up when Claire and Charlie stopped next to him.

"Hurley, I need Samantha to get me some coconuts. Have you seen her?" Charlie asked.

"Not for a couple days."

"Do you think you could find her and ask if she could do that?"

Hurley nodded as he stood. "Why?"

"Jack thinks Aaron is colicky and suggested coconut milk might help."

"Juliet did," Claire corrected her.

Hurley decided not to ask what was going on. After all, they only wanted coconuts.

"Be back as soon as I can." Hurley headed into the jungle. He was actually glad to have a reason to leave the screaming baby behind. The kid had kept him up for three days and he was ready for him to stop.

Hurley searched all the usual places the two hung out. When those turned up empty, he headed for the ridge where she and the creature went sometimes. He reached the top and stood, staring at the water. Turning he began calling her name as he followed the ridge.

He stopped when he heard the creature trumpet and turned toward the sound. The creature shot out of the trees and before Hurley had a chance to even scream, it swept him up and was speeding him through the jungle.

"You're taking me to her, right?" Hurley asked.

It didn't respond. Suddenly it stopped and dumped him on the ground. Before he could even recover, the creature took Walt's form, latched onto his wrist, and was dragging him into the hatch at a run. He stopped next to a couch, pointing at Samantha. Hurley pulled his arm away, sitting down on the edge of the couch next to her.

"Samantha?" he asked, laying his hand on her arm.

Her skin was hot and clammy. Hurley reached up, laying his hand on her forehead to verify her fever.

"She said she felt like she had the flu," the creature told him, "two days ago."

Hurley turned to it. "Two days ago! Why didn't you come get me?"

It stared at him, as if it didn't understand the question.

"You, creature, I'm talking to you. _Why_ didn't you come get me?"

It didn't answer.

Realization sunk cold fingers into his stomach. "Is she supposed to die?"

"No. Why would you ask that?"

"Then why didn't you come and get me?"

"I couldn't."

"Why? Did they stop you? Whoever—"

"You never left the camp. I couldn't get you."

"You could have come in and got me. At night."

"No. I can't."

"Why? Who told you not to?"

It pointed at Samantha. "She made me promise never to go into the camp for any reason. I promised her."

Hurley's anger eased. "Okay. Okay. Forgiven, I guess." He looked back at Samantha, feeling helpless. How was he supposed to help her?

"What can I do?" the creature asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with her." He looked up at the creature. "I thought people don't get sick here."

"They haven't ever before."

Hurley looked down.

"What about the doctor?" the creature asked.

"He won't help her. Well… He might, but he can't come here. She wouldn't want him here."

"I know she'll die if we don't do anything."

"How?" Hurley asked it. "How do you know that?"

"I know things."

"Do you know if he'll come here? Do you know if he'll know what to do?"

It shook its head.

Hurley looked at her face when she whimpered. It was soft, almost indiscernible, but he was sure it meant she was hurting.

"Doesn't matter," Hurley said. "Go get him."

"What?" it asked.

Hurley looked it in the eyes, or what it had formed as eyes. "Go and get Jack."

"He's in the camp, Hurley. I ca—"

"Do you want to save her or not?"

It didn't answer. It looked at her face instead. It reached out and laid its hand on her forehead and a small smile crossed its lips.

"I'll wait until night. I will hurry."

Hurley nodded, watching it run out of the bunker. Hurley got out washcloth and filled a pan with water. He sat down beside her and dabbed her neck and face.

#

Night had fallen uneventful, save Aaron was still crying. Charlie and Claire slept with the baby between them, too exhausted to stay awake even by his sound. The crying stopped suddenly when the creature drifted close to the tent. It paused and the child stared at it, fixated on the dark form moving soundlessly through the warm night air. It moved on in search of Jack. It found him and moved slowly to fill the area around and over him.

It was just about to grab him when someone yelled, "JACK!"

Jack woke up and it snatched him into itself. Nearby Kate came out of her tent, seeing the cloud. Charlie, who had yelled his name, stood near his and Claire's tent, clutching Aaron to his chest. The baby stared the sight, smiling and kicking his feet, reaching chubby hands toward the blackness. The creature dashed into the jungle and Kate ran after it. Aaron started screaming and crying again.

The darkness gave the creature the advantage and it quickly lost Kate. Inside its hold Jack tossed and struggled. The creature's body muffled his screams. It felt like only a couple minutes passed when the creature was suddenly dropping him on the ground, right at the hatch and Hurley's feet.

Jack scrambled to his feet, not noticing Hurley right away. His eyes were fixed on the creature hovering before him. Then he noticed light behind him and turned, staring Hurley in the eyes.

"What the hell is going on!" he screamed at Hurley.

"I need your help, Jack. Samantha's really sick and—"

"So you had that thing kidnap me?"

"Jack—"

"This thing—" Jack spun to point an accusing finger at the creature. He froze, staring at Walt. "Walt?"

"No," the creature answered. "I took you because she is very ill and we couldn't afford for you refusing to coming. I promise that once you've helped her, I will return you safely. I have no intention of hurting you."

Jack turned to Hurley, and for the first time noticed the hatch and the well-lit hall behind him.

"What is this?" he pointed past Hurley. "Is this another hatch?"

"Yeah. It's like the one Locke and Eko blew up, but there's no doomsday computer in this one."

"How long have you known about this?"

"A few months. But—"

"A few months? Is there food in this one? Medicine?"

"Jack—"

"We could—"

"SAMANTHA NEEDS YOUR HELP!" Hurley bellowed.

His response shocked Jack into silence. The creature's eyes enlarged.

"People don't get sick here, Hurley. No one has."

"Yeah, well, she is and I am begging you to help me. Please help my best friend, Jack."

Jack wasn't sure if he should be angry or touched by this. In the end, the doctor in him chose to act.

"Where is she?"

Hurley let him to her. He waited silently with the creature while Jack worked.

Jack carefully examined her. He was beginning to think it was a virus until he noticed a smear of blood on the couch. He gently rolled her on her side and spotted blood on the back of her shirt. Jack lifted it, staring at the swollen, infected cut across her back. The skin around it was red and hotter than her fever.

"That looks bad," Hurley stated.

Jack lowered her back to the couch. "It is." He turned, putting his face in his hands.

"Well… Fix it."

"I can't."

"What'd'ya mean you can't? Jack—"

Jack dropped his hands, loudly informing him, "I can't, Hurley. She has a staph infection and even the medicine I have back at camp won't help."

"There's an operating room in the showers."

Jack slowly looked up at him. "What?"

"I said there's—"

"Is it stocked?"

"Yeah."

"Show it to me."

Hurley led him into the showers, behind the lockers and into the operating room. Jack walked in, staring at the operating room. On the floor were footprints the size of Hurley's foot and smaller ones that Jack assumed were Samantha's. He turned to Hurley.

"How long have you kept this a secret?" he snarled.

Hurley looked him in the eye. "You guys blew up the last one. People were killed because of it. Nothing anyone did proved you guys are responsible enough to have these things." Hurley looked at the door.

Jack turned, finding the creature standing there. Jack stepped close to Hurley.

"You had me kidnapped."

"I didn't kidnap you. I borrowed you. Are you going to help her or not?"

"There's a fine line, Hurley."

"In helping her?"

Jack sighed. He could tell Hurley wasn't about to admit to the truth.

"I have to clean up the wound, which means we need to work fast at cleaning this room and sterilizing it. We have to get these sheets out first." Jack walked over to a sheet and began pulling it down. Hurley went to another and began pulling it off.

Jack looked up, finding the creature was gone. "Where'd that thing go?"

"Back outside, probably. He's claustrophobic, I think."

"Are you friends with it?"

"I think I'm, like, friends by association, but not directly."

"And Samantha?"

Hurley stopped moving. He looked at Jack. "I don't know, but I think so. We don't talk about him a whole lot."

"Why do you keep calling it a him?"

He shrugged. "Why did I always call my car a him?"

Jack smiled. It was a human thing to give something a sex, wasn't it?


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It had been a long time since two people screaming at each other had woken Samantha up. What made it twice as bad this time was the minute she did, she felt pain in her back and was disoriented about where she was. There was no one sitting in the chair by the bunk to explain anything and the last memory she had was walking through the jungle with the creature. There was nothing to fill in the chunk of memory she knew she was missing.

Or to explain why Jack and Hurley were fighting, but judging from the argument Jack wanted Hurley to move and let him leave. Hurley wasn't about to let him because she (she assumed that was herself) was sick and Jack would tell them (assumedly the other survivors) about the hatch. This only added to her confusion. She was sick? How did Jack find the hatch? How was Hurley stopping him from leaving?

Slowly, with a lot of effort and pain, she sat up. She moved to the edge of the bunk, staring at the hallucination of ocean under her feet. She looked and was blinded by sunlight. Her eyes adjusted to find it was just a spot light reflecting off the the I.V. pole next to the bed. All the while the men's fight waged on. They apparently had no intention of quitting any time soon. Now her head was starting to ache and cool silence was all she wanted.

She grabbed the pole, slowly stood, and even slower, shuffled into the kitchen and toward the fight. Jack was now arguing why he should tell everyone about this place because of the food and medicine, which Hurley's response was how that worked so well with the last hatch that those same people blew it up.

Neither man noticed her entering the room. Behind Hurley the creature, in Walt's form stood, not saying a word.

'_Whose side was it on?_' she wondered.

She tried to speak and her mouth was dry. She cleared her throat and that sent sharp pain down her back. She tried to yell but couldn't raise her voice over the men's because it hurt too much to use the muscles needed for that. She looked at a pan sitting on the counter. Slowly she moved to it, picked it up, and let it fall on the counter a couple times. It made her headache flair, but worked effectively. Both men turned, staring at her. She glowered back.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Jack said, starting around the counter toward her.

"Freeze," she ordered.

He obeyed, starting to speak.

"Oh no. No. You've said plenty in the last few minutes. Just you shush."

Hurley was next to get a lecture when he tried to speak. "Na-uh, Hugo. Both of you, silence. Just… Silence."

They obeyed, even if she could see in their faces they wanted to say more. She noticed suddenly that Jack's face was a little less scarred and there was a very faint glow around him. What had he done, or was going to do, that was making that happen? She didn't really care at the moment, her back hurt too much.

"So… Hurley first. Explain to me why Jack is here."

"You had a staph infection. I had to bring him here to make you better. He—"

"Did you?" she asked Jack, turning half closed eyes to him. "Did you make me better?"

"You're walking. What do you think?"

"Fair enough. So, Jack, what's your deal with Hurley right now?"

"I need to go back."

"Back to the beach and the other survivors?"

"Yes."

"And what are you going to do when you get there?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what are you going to do when you get there?"

Jack offered a confused, half smile. "I don't understand what—"

Hurley butted in. "She's asking if you're going to tell them about this place."

"Of course I am. They need to know about this place.

"They don't need to know about this place."

And the fight started all over again.

Knowing it was going to hurt, but fueled by a growing headache and anger, Samantha yelled, "SHUT! UP!" The two stopped. "Good grief! You two are acting like two school boys!"

"They need to know about this place," Jack argued. "There's—"

"No they don't," Hurley argued. "And she's not better. She's pale. You took her temperature twenty minutes ago and she had a fever still. She needs you here."

"She isn't the only person on this island."

Samantha cut them off before they started again, "Alright! Okay! Stop!"

Jack turned to continue his argument with her, but she cut the words off before they made it out of his mouth.

"I said stop. Please stop. For the sake of my headache, stop. If you two make me scream again and my back hurt more, I will start throwing…." She looked for a good threatening item and settled on a wooden spoon. "Blunt kitchen utensils and pots at you the both of you. Now stop it!"

It made both of them smile. Jack even chuckled a little at the empty threat.

"Now, Hurley, I am sure that you can take care of me. And if something comes up, Pseudo-Walt can shuttle you back to get Jack and bring him back. Right? Can't that happen?"

Hurley frowned, then shrugged, and then nodded. Jack started for the door.

"Did I say I was done, Jack?"

He stopped, looking back at her. There was that half smile, but this time it was an anger mask. She could tell by the way his eyes squinted a little.

"This great idea of yours to run back and tell the survivors of this place, isn't so great, Jack."

"They need to know about this place. They need the food and the medicine."

"No. They don't. Listen, they are still living like they always had, taking things for granted. They know they're on this island and things are scarce, but when an abundance of anything lands in their lap, they piss it away. That food, in that pantry, needs to be left there for real emergencies. Or for real celebrations. We can continue lying. We can tell them we have stashes everywhere. You've stashed so many things they'll believe you. And the same goes for the medicine. Do you really want them coming to you every time they stub their toe or have a little headache, using up medicine for stupid things? What happens when they really, really need it? When they get shot by one of Danielle's arrows like I did? Or when a pregnancy is going really wrong? There's a baby back there without any immunization shots. We don't know what lives on this island. What if he needs it for a life threatening case of the chicken pox? But you've used that on someone with a mild case of the shingles or something. THINK about this, Jack. Think really hard before you walk out of here and tell all."

Jack looked from at Hurley then back at her. He walked up to her.

"You shouldn't have kept this a secret."

"Yes. I should have. And so will you because you know I'm right."

He frowned at her. "Fine. But I need to take a can of evaporated milk for Aaron. I've had time to think about his symptoms. I think he's hungry and Claire isn't producing enough milk."

"Now ya see? That's a real emergency, isn't it?"

Jack smiled and this time it was real. "Yeah. That's a real emergency. I see."

"Take the can. Pseudo-Walt will show you back. You won't say anything though, all right?"

He held out his hand and she shook it.

"Thank you," she said.

"I don't know that this is a good idea but—"

"For saving my life, Jack."

He smiled again. "You're welcome."

She watched him hurry into the pantry, and then come out with a can. He offered her a smile and left with the creature following him. Hurley walked over and gently slipped his arm around her arm. He grabbed the I.V. pole and they slowly walked back to the bunk. Hurley was careful getting her in and covering her up.

"Do you need anything?" he asked.

"My head hurts. Did he tell you what I could have?"

"Yes."

From the dresser he picked up a bottle and shook out two pills. He poured a glass of water and helped her take them. He sat the glass next to the bottle and then sat down in the chair.

"Is that all?"

She held out her hand to him and he took it.

"Did you think I'd make it back for Chinese take-out before you?"

He laughed. "Maybe."

She smiled. "You're a really good friend, Hurley."

He smiled, but she saw sadness in it.

"What is it?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Get some sleep. I'll be out on the couch."

Giving her hand a squeeze, he stood and left. She watched him sit down on the couch, confused by his reaction. What had made him sad? She didn't know what she said that would have done that. She closed her eyes, realizing whatever he'd given her made her tired. She drifted to sleep, still wondering what was bothering her friend.

#

Jack picked up the end of the I.V. and slowly injected an antibiotic into the tubing.

"This will sting a little," he warned her.

She grimaced when the chilled antibiotic burned as it entered her vein. He pulled the needle out and capped it.

"Okay. I'll be back tomorrow to check on you. And Claire was grateful for the stash you told me about."

"What?"

"I told her that you told me about a small stash you had. Then had to lie about why you didn't come back with me."

"She didn't believe you, did she?"

"I don't know. With her it's always hard to tell what she believes."

Samantha closed her eyes. "Is that supposed to make me drowsy?"

"It can." Jack patted her arm. "Get some rest."

She didn't respond.

Jack put the vial in the refrigerator, grabbed another can of evaporated milk, and left the bunker. Outside Hurley and the creature were waiting by the door. Hurley stared at the ground, slowly pushing a rock back and forth with the toe of his shoe.

"She's doing fine. I'll come back tomorrow morning."

Hurley nodded.

"A couple people have asked where you are. What do you want me to tell them?"

Hurley looked off into the dark forest, then back at him. "Tell them you don't know, haven't seen me."

Jack nodded. "See you tomorrow."

Hurley nodded.

Jack walked up to the creature and in one swoop it engulfed him and disappeared into the night. The creature came within sight of the campfires and gently sat Jack on his feet. Jack watched it move away.

"Same place tomorrow night."

It made a soft chittering noise as it blended into the night. Jack sighed, walking into camp. He nodded and smiled at people he passed, making his way to Charlie and Claire's tent. Claire was sitting by the crib playing peek-a-boo with Aaron. Jack crouched down by her and she looked up at him. He handed her the can.

"The two cans should get you through the week."

"Another stash, is it?" she asked. Her voice hinted that she knew it was a lie.

He smiled, nodding. "Yes."

She took it. "Well… It's helped him. I guess he was hungry."

"It happens. Nothing you did."

She looked at the can. "You know where there's a supply of food, don't you? You and Hurley and Samantha."

Jack stood. "Good night, Claire."

She looked up, watching him walk away. She smiled when Aaron grabbed her shirt and cooed. Jack glanced back when she laughed. At least she let it go.

"Where were you?" Juliet's voice asked.

He turned, watching her walk up.

"Samantha got hurt and I was helping her."

"Oh. Jack, we need to talk. I've been keeping some secrets from you and now I need you to know about them. I think Ben is going to try something."

Jack sighed, looking at the people around him. "Just a minute."

He walked to his tent and slipped two bottles of pills, a vial and some syringes into his first aid bag. He walked back to her.

"Follow me. I know where we can talk."

The two walked into the jungle.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Samantha smiled at the hand gently stroking her hair. She could smell soap and shampoo and it was a wonderful smell.

"Sam?" Hurley asked.

She opened her eyes, staring up at his face. She smiled, catching his hand. But he didn't smile. In fact, she could see stress and worry on his face.

"While you were out last night, some things happened."

"Like?"

"Well… We found out that Ben is coming for the women."

"You told me that yesterday. Did I sleep through an entire day?"

"No. No. But one of the other people, apparently someone Sawyer and Kate knows and trusts, just showed up and told us they're coming tonight. We have to leave. Now."

Samantha slowly pulled her hand away from him. She sat up, watching his eyes.

"Leave where?"

"Well, Charlie and Desmond are heading out to an underwater hatch to shut off the thing jamming frequencies. Some of the men are staying back to shoot the Others that are coming here. Jack's leading the rest of us up to the radio tower so we can call for Naomi's ship for rescue once the jamming signal is turned off."

Samantha looked down.

"So pack up what you want to keep and let's go." Hurley got to his feet, standing. "And I'll—"

"I'm not going."

Silence fell hard between them. She looked up at his face and it was impossible to read what he was feeling.

"If you stay here you could die," Hurley said.

"I'm not staying here, either. I don't know where I'm going, but… Hurley, I don't want to be rescued. I don't want to leave here."

Hurley slowly sank to his knees. "What?"

"I don't want to leave here. Ever."

"Why?"

"I had time to think about this when I was alone in the hatch the last couple days. Lots of time. Hurley, I couldn't live in a city seeing people for what they really were. I have nightmares sometimes about the people _here_. I'd never sleep if I went back to civilization and people. I hear and talk to animals here. People would think I'm nuts if I start talking to the park squirrels."

"Maybe it'll go away once you leave this place."

"To lose the ability to see people like they are, and maybe get an iced chai, is about the only reason I would ever want to go back. But I like it here, Hurley. I don't much like those other people and Ben especially, but… I'm tired of living life in the world as we knew it. I'm tired of paying taxes and phones and reality television and arguments about decency and violence in our entertainment. I like walking twenty yards into the trees and picking my groceries. I don't even miss meat. I want to stay."

He stared at her for a long time, his face impossible to read.

Softly he told her, "I don't want to leave you."

Realization hit her suddenly. She knew what he wasn't saying. Did he know how much she loved him? But how afraid she was to tell him? Especially now.

She reached out, laying her hand on his cheek. "I don't want you to either, Hurley, but you're going to. You don't want to stay here. You want to go home and that's okay. That's perfectly okay."

"I love you."

The silence was different this time. It was tense, but filled with something else. She leaned forward and kissed him, because she knew he never would. He kissed her back and she was surprised at how soft it was. She hadn't expected that really. Slowly she pulled back, looking in his eyes.

"I'm still not leaving."

The tension lasted for a few seconds, and then he was on his feet and out of her tent. Samantha wanted to cry over her loss, but she couldn't do that. The poets lied; love couldn't fix everything.

#

From the jungle Samantha had watched Jack lead the survivors down the beach. As soon as they were out of sight, Sayid, Jin, and Bernard begin putting the finishing touches on the camp. That's when she slipped quietly into the jungle, heading toward the hatch. Everything about the day felt ominous, like a calm before the storm.

She remembered being located at an animal shelter before Katrina made landfall. She stayed with the shelter's director and two employees to take care of the animals through the storm and remembered the morning of September 23rd vividly even now. The howling wind and rain stopped abruptly. The employees and director told her that the eye of the hurricane had come ashore and the director took her outside to see it.

It was a sight and sense she could never forget. In all directions for at least thirty miles, was a massive wall of swirling clouds. And straight overhead was a clear blue sky with bright sunlight. In that center, in the eye of the nature's fury, was a sense of calm she had never felt before. The destruction around her seemed surreal to the strange peace in that calmness. The director hurried her back in before she had been able to swallow all of it and really grasp what it meant to be at peace with the world.

That's what it felt now. There was a sense of peace just on the horizon, but like those swirling clouds, there was a deeper dread of impending disaster behind it. Something was about to go terribly, terribly wrong, even though she didn't know exactly what.

Breaking into her thoughts abruptly, the creature suddenly blocked her path.

_Go left. Run. You have to tell Hurley that he can help because he knows how to drive. Tell him only he can do this_.

It took a few more seconds for her brain to stop running down the path it had been on and grasp what the creature had just said.

"What?"

_Go tell Hurley he can help. He knows how to drive._

"I don't understand."

_You don't have to. Just go. Go that way and run._

It shaped itself to a point in the direction it wanted her to go.

"And why am I—"

Without warning her it trumpeted loudly, cutting her off and forcing her to cover her ears. She grimaced, ducking her head. The trumpeting stopped and when she looked up, the creature shaped as Walt was in its place.

"There isn't time for questioning. Things are happening. They are happening fast. You have been given this task and you must do it."

"Must do it? Says who?"

"SAMANTHA!" it screamed at her.

She stared at it. When it grabbed her arms with painful vice grips, she fully grasped it had no intention of taking no for an answer.

"Go tell Hurley he can drive. If he wants to save his friends, he needs to drive. He'll figure it out. He's smart! NOW GO!"

She tried to pull away but it wouldn't let her go. Did it know she would run the other way if it let go now?

"Yes. I do. I can hear your thoughts, remember?"

She swallowed. This wasn't her friend and it was frightening her.

Gently it told her, "I am still your friend. I promise you I will explain everything soon. But right now I just need you to obey. Go tell him and run." It let her go, stepping back. "Run like the day we first met."

She stepped back one step. Then two. Then burst into a run in the direction it showed her. She may not like having to wait for an explanation, but she knew it would tell her everything later. It always did.

#

"HURLEY!"

Hurley didn't stop for the voice. If it was Juliet, he wasn't going to listen to her. Everyone had dissed, insulted, and made fun of him. His best friend, the woman he fell in love with, had abandoned him. If no one was going to listen to him, to let him help them, then the hell with all of them!

"HURLEY, STOP!"

He didn't.

"GOD DAMNIT, HUGO REYES, STOP!"

He did, and turned to see who was using his full name. Through the tall grass, Samantha leapt and bound, running toward him. She almost fell as she slid to a stop, and then leaned over with her hands on her knees as she panted. Her shirt, soaked in sweat, clung to her thin frame. Her pants were wet from the wet grass. Her hair and face were dripping with sweat. Sand speckled her clothes like she'd been rolling in it.

"What?" he asked.

She held up one finger, continuing to pant. She stood and pushed her hand into her side.

"I'm supposed to tell you that you can help. You can drive."

"What?"

"That's all I was told to tell you. I guess you're supposed to figure it out from there."

"Who told you to tell me that?"

"The creature." She leaned on her knees again as her panting slowed.

"What does that mean? I don't even know what that means."

"I don't know!" she snapped, looking up at him. "All I know is it, told me to find you and tell you that."

Hurley frowned at her. "I thought you weren't helping us."

"Helping who? You?"

"All of us."

"I never said _that_."

"You sure acted like it back at camp."

She stood straight, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, my friend told me to give you this message to help your friends. So would you stop hashing stupid shit and just think about what he meant."

Hurley looked down. She was right. If the creature gave her that message, then he should figure it out. So what—

"THE VAN!" Hurley cried out.

She raised her eyebrows. "The van?" And then it clearly hit her and she cried out, "THE VAN! Wait. What about the van?"

"I know how to help them. Come on!"

Hurley walked past her, heading to where he'd parked the VW van. He turned to say something to her and found she wasn't behind him or following. He stopped, turning. She was watching him leave.

"Come on!"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You have to do this alone."

"What?"

"Just…" She smiled. "Be a hero. That's when you shine, Hurley."

"Sam—"

She took off at a run, disappearing back into the jungle. Hurley stared where she'd disappeared for a long moment. Suddenly he remembered his friends needing help and hurried off. He hoped to find her later, to talk sense into her about leaving. But for now, they needed help.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Samantha ran until her lungs burned. She stopped, falling to her hands and knees and panting. The tears followed without warning and she gasped between sobs. She didn't know what she'd done. She didn't know if she'd sent Hurley to his death or saved his life. She wanted to believe she could trust the creature and he'd never ask her to harm anyone, but there was a small voice that told her it might. Samantha slowly moved to sit down and get a hold of herself. She looked up and stared. An old and derelict shack was in front of her. Most of the windows were broken out. She felt a sense of overwhelming anger and rage. Under the voices of the birds around her, she heard muttering. She'd never heard muttering thoughts before. People didn't think in mutters, they spoke out loud, feeling safe that no one else could hear them, and anywhere else on the planet they were right.

Samantha moved slowly, expecting at any moment the owner of the muttering voice would appear at the window or from around a corner. But she was able to reach the wall and lean against it beside a window, without seeing anyone. She peeked around the windowsill. She didn't see anyone. Inside the shack didn't look much better. There was a broken chair against the opposite wall. In her peripheral vision she caught sight of a movement and focused on it. The rocking chair at the end of the table rocked slowly back and forth. Was it the wind?

Samantha looked down. There was no wind. She looked back and was rattled as she caught glimpse of something. It vanished when she focused on the chair. Was it real? What was it?

The chair stopped rocking abruptly. She stared. Suddenly something crashed through the glass. She pulled herself back against the wall as a fury of crashing and breaking erupted in the house.

The muttering suddenly turned to screams of rage, 'GO AWAY! GO AWAY! I DON'T WANT ANYONE HERE!'

Samantha didn't move. The fury inside faded. She peeked inside and saw the rocking chair was moving again, but faster this time. She bolted for the trees. Whatever it was, she didn't want to see what happened if it got upset a second time. She ran until the screams had faded and then stopped to lean against a tree.

A gunshot made her stand up straight. It startled the birds around her, making them fly away. In the following silence she held her breath, listening for footsteps. When she was sure that none were coming she let out her breath and sank to the ground. She put her face in her hands, trying to figure out what she was doing. All the calm of the island seemed to be shattered – or had the calm always been an illusion? Samantha dropped her hands to her lap, staring into the trees.

A twig snapped and she tensed. She heard footsteps coming toward her. Samantha scrambled to her feet, looking for some place to hide. For once, the jungle offered no protection. She turned to run and froze, staring down the barrel of the gun Ben held aimed at her forehead. The two stared at each other for a long moment. Ben smiled.

"I don't believe we've met."

Samantha didn't answer. Ben's face was grotesque. To her eyes it looked like a piece of twisted, gnarled, old wood. Nothing about it was appealing, and worse, everything about it frightened her. His eyes were dark pits. When he opened his mouth there was blackness inside, threatening to come out and kill her.

She heard the creature chitter softly and it spoke. _She had to try and put space between her and the gun. It was watching them both now and it would not let harm come to her_.

She didn't believe that. The gun didn't look any less deadly with that promise.

_It promised today was not her day to die. It knew what day she would die, how and where. This was not that day, place, or way_.

She caught her breath. It knew her future? She felt suddenly betrayed and angry.

"You know when I'll die?" she asked, looking off into the jungle. "And when and where and how? Who told you? What else do you know about me?"

"Who are you talking to?' Ben asked.

"What else do you know about me!"

_It was sorry. It—_

"I TRUSTED YOU!"

_She could still trust it. She—_

"I can still trust you? How the hell can I trust you? You know when and where and how I'll die and you've never told me? How long have you known? Months? Days? When were you going to tell me?"

"Who are you talking to?" Ben demanded.

"I'm talking to an asshole!" Samantha snapped at him.

_She needed to calm down. Ben was getting nervous and it couldn't help her if she didn't calm down. She needed—_

"Calm down? You expect me to calm down? Why did I send Hurley for the van? Where is he driving it? What did you make me do?"

With no warning, the creature enveloped her in it and disappeared into the trees.

Behind them Ben was shocked by the sudden appearance of the creature and stared where Samantha had been. He quickly overcame his shock and hurried on toward his camp – he had things that must be done immediately and a crazy woman killed by the Smoke Monster was low on his priorities right now.

#

"PUT ME DOWN!" Samantha screamed, pounding her fists into the darkness around her. "I SAID PUT ME DOWN!"

Without warning it dropped her. She fell a few feet onto a soft bed of ferns. Before she could recover, the creature had changed to Walt and was kneeling in front of her, holding her arms.

"Do you want to know when, where, and how you'll die? Do you want to know that? Do you want to know what they showed me about you? Do you want to know everything I know about you? Your past, your present, your future? Do you?"

She stared at him. She'd never seen him this upset.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"DO YOU!"

She reached out, laying her hand on his face. He was trembling. That scared her more than when she'd first met this creature.

"Do I leave here? Do I leave you?"

It said nothing.

"Do I die here?"

"Yes and no."

"Which is it?"

"I don't know. I can't understand what I see and I can't show it to you. I think it means your death is uncertain still. And I don't understand why. The others here have finite deaths, and I've seen them all."

"Ok." She shook her head. "Ok, I forgive you. I forgive you."

It fell forward into her arms, wrapping its arms around her.

"Everything is on the verge of ruin. My world is in jeopardy."

"No. Not so long as I'm here. You're my friend and I'll help you. But I do need to know one more thing. Please tell me. Will Hurley die from what I told him to do?"

"Nothing else can kill him."

"What does that mean?"

"No. He won't die."

She closed her eyes, relieved to the bone. "Tell me what's happening. How can I help?"

It sat up, and with a deep breath, told her, "I can't tell you. You can't help me."

She nodded. "Okay. Then how can I help you right now?"

It unraveled into smoke, surrounding her.

It just needed to know she was safe and wasn't angry with it.

"Done," Samantha told it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Losing Hurley had been her breaking point. Samantha stayed in the heights of the island, far from the insanity below. She'd found a forgotten building on the rim of the island's extinct volcano and turned it into her home.

The smoke creature visited her every day, sometimes several times a day. It told her about what was happening. About the war the survivors and the Others waged. About the sky they claimed turned purple a second time. It told her about the island disappearing, and people going to the future and past. She was confused by the stories because she'd never witnessed any of this, which confused the smoke creature because it had seen them all.

_Never?_ it asked her.

She shrugged.

She looked down at the improvised metate she was working. She had found a patch of maize growing in a valley. It took her days to find the perfect flat and round basalt stones to improvise a metate. Lime was abundant near a pool that fell off a cliff into the ocean, also giving her the clean water she needed to boil the maize. That's what the smoke creature found her doing. Grinding the maize into course flour, preparing to make flat bread. Her mouth watered at the thought of something she hadn't had in what felt like years.

Samantha stopped, looking up at it. "You've asked me a dozen times if I'd seen all these things and I've told you a dozen times, no. I don't even see the people anymore. Why do you keep asking?"

It didn't answer.

She went back to grinding. The creature slowly curled around her, enclosing her in darkness until she couldn't see. She sat back.

"Not helping."

It laughed.

She smiled. It brushed her side as it pulled away. She giggled, pulling away.

"Stop it, you."

The smoke drifted apart until it was hanging overhead, shading her from the sun. She went back to work.

_Why are you making that?_

"I want some bread. I haven't had any for a long time."

_There was bread in the hatch._

"Yes, but I want to make my own."

Like an arrow it shot off into the jungle. She expected it to be gone much longer, but it appeared a few minutes later, changing into a man she'd never seen before.

Samantha sat back, staring at it.

"This is new."

"No," it told her. "I'm not new. I'm the oldest." It walked up to her and knelt on one knee. It reached out, brushing back her hair. "Something is about to happen. You stay on the volcano, Samantha. No matter what you see or hear, do not leave here. Help will come. For you, I'll let it come."

She stared at it, almost smiling. "Help?"

It leaned forward. Its eyes shined with a silver light from the inside.

"I've never met anyone I wanted to protect as much as I do you. Do not leave this volcano until a man comes. His name is Ross Faverty. You stay here, you make your bread, and no matter what happens or who you see, go with no one but Ross Faverty."

"What's about to happen?"

It brushed its fingers down her face. "Something that must."

It changed into smoke and disappeared.

Samantha stared where it went. She shrugged a little, figuring it would be back tomorrow, and went back to grinding maize.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

– Five Years Later –

Samantha walked along the ridge, aware that the polar bear was following her. She stopped, watching it lumber toward her. The animal stopped by her, looking up at her.

"Hungry," he told her.

She smiled. "I know. It's only a little ways. Then we can fix that cut up too."

It looked down a cut running down its leg, staining the white fur with blood.

"Come on," Samantha told him.

The two started walking again.

"Hello, Sam."

She looked up and froze. Hurley stood in her path. He smiled. She didn't return it. She hadn't seen him or any other human for five years. She hadn't seen the smoke creature either. And now here he was with a bright glowing halo around him.

"Hi," she said. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah," he agreed.

Hurley walked up to her, stopping a foot away. "You're keeping yourself good."

"Thanks. What are you doing here? I haven't seen you or anyone in years."

"We were never here."

"Don't be stupid. You were here. I saw you. I kissed you."

"No. You didn't. But you need to go down to the beach now."

"No."

"Help is coming. You have to be there when it comes."

"No."

"The smoke creature told you to wait for Ross Faverty. He didn't tell you where to wait."

"How did you know—"

"He'll be here tomorrow. You have to go back, Samantha. You're the only one who survived."

"Survived… What?"

"The plane crash. You survived it. He'll come and take you away from here."

"You were all here. I wasn't the only survivor, Hurley."

"The Smoke Monster asked you about the purple sky, the sound, the island moving. Remember all that?"

She nodded.

"You never saw it."

She shook her head.

"We were as unreal as all of that. We were… Caught in transition."

"What does that mean?"

"Something you can't understand until your memories of the crash come back."

"I remember the crash."

"Those aren't the right memories."

"What? Yes they—"

"They are no more real than I am."

Feebly she replied, "Yes, they are. You are—"

"Dead."

She stared at him. "What?" she whispered.

"Everyone you saw here was dead, someone who stopped existing in the real world. But you saw them because you have always been able to see and speak to the dead. But the time's come for you to go back to real life with Ross Faverty, back to the life you were meant to live."

"I kissed you," she whimpered.

"No, you didn't."

"Even the animals on this island are dead; just spirits in transit."

"Okay. Fine. Let's say you really are dead and a ghost. All those people I see never realize their dead. They think they're still alive. Why would you have known?"

"I went somewhere for a little while, somewhere I needed to be so I could come back and help the others who didn't go the right direction. Now everything is right except you."

"If everything I've seen on this island is dead, how come I'm here?"

"The island is real, but it's in a space between two worlds. You're here because you're unique and can live in both places. But you can't stay any longer. Go to the beach, Samantha. Wait for Ross Faverty."

"No. I'm staying here."

Hurley walked up and looked into her eyes. She caught her breath when she saw silver light in his eyes – just like had been in the smoke creature's eyes when she'd last seen him as a human.

"You do not belong here, Samantha. Your life has a purpose, and it can't be fulfilled here. I've seen what you will do – you will be in awe of who you'll become and the things you'll do."

She began chewing on her bottom lip.

Hurley leaned in. "He's coming tomorrow. That's his ship." Hurley pointed out to the water.

She turned her head. In the distance she did see a ship. She looked at Hurley.

"Go and be happy, Sam."

She turned to argue that the polar bear needed help, but it was gone.

"It never existed. It's moved on."

She looked at Hurley. He was waiting for her to make a decision. Samantha started toward the beach and she didn't look back.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Samantha watched the motor boat come into sight. She didn't move as it turned toward her and headed for the shore. When it was close enough, she could see there were three men and two women. They were all dressed in fatigues with a British flag patch sewn onto one sleeve, and a patch she assumed was military of some kind on the other sleeve.

The flat bottomed boat skimmed up onto the sand as it stopped. She watched the people get out, all five staring at her. Slowly she stood up.

"Ross… Faverty?" she asked.

Four eyes turned toward the man on the left end. He wasn't a spectacular looking man – but definitely athletic. His sandy blond hair looked browner in the sunlight. He pulled off his sunglasses, showing his bright green eyes.

"That's me. How did you know?" he asked with a distinct Welsh accent

Samantha looked down, and then nervously back into the jungle. There was silence in the jungle. Not even a bird stirred. She'd noticed all the sounds had stopped as she came down. There hadn't been a bug, a bird, or an animal in sight. She looked back at him.

"I can't explain it."

"You can't or won't?" a taller man demanded.

"I can't. Why did you guys come here?"

It was their turn to look nervous. Eventually Ross was the focus of their attention again.

"I… I was told to come here in a dream," Ross said. "Your name is Samantha McNally, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Were you told by Hurley?"

He slowly nodded. "Yes. How'd you know?"

She smiled a little. "Hurley died when Oceanic flight 815 crashed."

"We know this. That was five years. Is that how long you've been on the island?"

Samantha slowly nodded.

They were silent for ten minutes, but they didn't feel the passing time.

"I imagine… You'd like to go home now."

She almost shook her head, but stopped. She nodded.

Ross held out his hand. She didn't move. He took three steps to her. Samantha walked up to him, letting him take her hand. He walked back to the boat with her and helped her in. The other four pushed the boat into the water and got in. The engine was started and it felt like the loudest sound Samantha had heard in a while. She put her hands over her ears. She looked up when someone moved close to her, looking into Ross' eyes. He leaned close, holding his hands over her hands to help block out the sound. She reflected the smile he offered.

#

"I've brought you a blanket."

Samantha turned her head, watching Ross walk along the deck of the ship to her. He wrapped it around her, pulling it tight.

"Thank you," she told him.

He smiled. "You're welcome."

Samantha almost returned it. Her eyes went to the patch on his sleeve. On the way to the ship, he'd told her that he was a Lieutenant of the International Waters Patrol. It was an organization that was only two years old and formed by the United Nations. He explained because the group was without nation, they patrolled International waters without breaking any treaties. The day before, a passing plane had spotted smoke on the island and reported. They arrived late that evening and planned on sending a patrol to the location, but that night, he'd had a dream that told him exactly where to find her.

"Tell me about your dream."

Ross smiled, leaning on the railing next to her. "It's very strange. I don't usually recall dreams, or care. At first it was like I was watching a picture on the screen. There was no sound, just people doing this and that – they were very hostile, very agitated, and strange things happened to them. And then it stopped. They were all sitting in a church. They were happy and content, and waiting for something to happen. I heard a man say to me, 'Someday, you'll be happy and content, and waiting for something to happen too.' I turned my head and there was a very large man sitting next to me. He said, 'I'm Hurley. What did you think of the movie? I liked the ending myself.' I told him I didn't like any of it. I was confused by it. He laughed and told me, 'Never mind that feeling. It'll be gone when you wake up. But hey, I need you to do something really special. Tomorrow, you need to take that search boat out. You'll take these people.' He gave me a piece of paper with the names of four crewmen. He said, 'Go around to the west beach. She's waiting there for you.' I asked him who and he told me, 'Samantha, she likes to be called Sam. She's waiting on you, so don't be late. You two have to hook up after this is over. It'll be worth it. I promise.' I turned to tell him I didn't understand, and I was standing on that very beach. You were sitting on that very log." Ross blushed, looking away.

"What? Why are you blushing?"

"I admit, I think I spent the rest of the dream staring at you." Ross looked at her. "I could spend my life staring at you."

She smiled, looking away. Despite the cool wind, her cheeks were very warm.

"Thank you," she quietly told him.

They were silent for a long time.

"What happened to Oceanic 815?" she asked.

"It was found at the bottom of the Sunda Trench five years ago."

She looked up. "I was sitting at the back. I was—" She gasped when all her memories of the crash returned without warning.

#

The plane was going down. People were screaming. Then the plane began breaking apart. Something hit her in the head and there was black. When she opened her eyes, she was watching water quickly climbing up the body of the plane toward her. Everyone around her was dead. There was Kate, still handcuffed. Hurley was several seats back, his dead eyes staring at her. She struggled to unfasten her seat belt and ended up falling into the water, among the dead people. She could feel their bodies rubbing against her body. She grabbed seats and began climbing toward the sky above.

An engine began to whine as it got a taste of seawater. She made it to the top as the engine exploded. She glanced back, watching the plane rip apart. Then she was falling through open air and landed in the water. The section of plane she'd had a hold of was quickly sinking with her under it. She fought her way out from under it and bolted to the surface. She broke the surface to find she was surrounded by luggage and bodies.

She swam to a large trunk and pulled herself onto it. She held onto it, watching the ocean. Sawyer drifted past her. His body was twisted; his neck was bent too far back. She turned her head, finding Jack on the other side. His face was burned, just like she kept seeing him. Slowly, one by one, all the people she'd seen on the island popped out of the water like dead fish. All of their faces were burned or cut just like she had seen them on the island. A whimper started in her chest until it erupted in a howling scream. She closed her eyes and pressed her face against the hard trunk. The nightmare had to end.

When she opened her eyes again, she had bright red sunburn on one side of her face and there was no sign of bodies or luggage or the plane, just the ocean. She closed her eyes and when she came to again, the trunk had washed onto a beach. She slid off the trunk, and started walking until she collapsed in a meadow. The next few days she walked, finding two empty hatches – one which had been blown up, and finally the building that became her home for the next five years. But never in that time did she actually see the creature, the 'survivors,' or any other human. She spent the five years along on an island devoid of any creatures.

#

Samantha became aware someone was holding her. And then she realized she was crying, and it was Ross holding her.

"Shhh," he whispered to her. "It's all well now, love. You're safe now."

"Did I make the whole things up?" Samantha asked herself. "All that I saw and did and heard… Was that all my imagination?"

"What?" Ross asked.

She looked up at him. "Are you imaginary?"

"Shall I pinch you to find out?"

She smiled a little. "I can't tell if this is real from what I thought was real."

He brushed his fingers along her jaw. "I hope it's real."

"Love at first sight doesn't exist."

"Oh. So now you're a love guru?"

She almost smiled. "No."

He turned away, but kept one arm wrapped around her waist. "If I were living alone on an island like that, with no one around, I bet I'd start making things up too."

She laid her head against his chest. "That makes me feel better."

Ross smiled, giving her a light squeeze. "I'll keep working at it. We'll get you back right as rain."

She didn't tell him she didn't believe that was possible. Or that she didn't truly believe everything she'd seen or heard had been all her imagination. After all, she'd been seeing and talking to dead people since she was five.


End file.
